E-170 Will Be Operated By Air France Subsidiary

On Friday, Brazilian planemaker Embraer delivered its 500th E-Jet -- an Embraer 170 -- to France’s Regional-Compagnie Aérienne Européenne. The handover ceremony took place at the company’s São José dos Campos, Brazil, headquarters, a short six months after the 400th E-Jet was delivered in June 2008.

Regional, a wholly-owned Air France subsidiary, accepted its first Embraer 170 in September.

"The delivery of the 500th E-Jet is a great achievement for Embraer and we are especially proud that it is destined for our good and loyal friends at Regional," said Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer President and CEO. "This important milestone takes place just four years after the Embraer 170 entered service, underlining the outstanding worldwide reception this innovative aircraft family has received from 52 customers in 35 countries on five continents."

Regional's Embraer 170 is configured with 76 seats, in a single-class layout. The French airline is Embraer's largest customer in Europe, and currently has 50 Embraer aircraft (six Embraer 190s, two Embraer 170s, 28 ERJ 145s, nine ERJ 135s, and five EMB 120 Brasilias) in its fleet.

"It's a special honor for Regional to take part in this celebration with our friends from Embraer in Sao Jose dos Campos," said Jean-Yves Grosse, Regional / Air France President and CEO. "The E-Jets continue to receive great acceptance from our customers for their large and comfortable cabin, and we gain great efficiency by operating both the Embraer 190 and the Embraer 170, which gives us greater flexibility in a changing market."

As of September 30, Embraer had logged 865 firm orders and 813 options for the E-Jets family. The planes already delivered have accumulated more than 2.2 million flight hours, transporting over 100 million passengers.

FMI: www.embraer.com, www.regional.com/english.html