São Paulo – The airline from Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways and Embraer announced this Tuesday (23th) that Etihad’s affiliate company, Etihad Flight College (Etihad’s Training Facility for Pilots), bought four Phenom 100E airplanes manufactured by the Brazilian company. Besides these models, set to be delivered in Q1 2016, there is a purchase option of other three airplanes of the same model. If all purchase options are to be exercised, the deal could reach US$ 30 million, as per the list price of the aircrafts.
The jets will be used by the professionals trained at the flight school of the airline, who then could graduate to fly other bigger aircrafts used in short and long distance routes. In the press release, the president and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets, Marco Túlio Pellegrini, said that this aircraft is ideal for jet pilot training due to its performance and operational cost, among other factors.
The aircrafts bought from Embraer will be added to the fleet of 16 aircrafts of Etihad’s pilot training program. Ten of those are models from the Cessna manufacturer, and six are from Diamond. These models aren’t equipped with a jet engine, unlike the Phenom. Embraer’s aircraft can fly in altitudes up to 12,500 meters, has a flight range of 2,182 kilometers and can carry four passengers.
According to information from Etihad, the company’s pilot school is located in the city of Al Ain, emirate of Abu Dhabi, and can train up to 120 cadets per year.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
