US start-up discount carrier Avelo Airlines has ordered 50 Embraer E195-E2s in a move that will see the airline evolve beyond operating only Boeing 737s.
Avelo has also taken options to order a further 50 of the jets, Embraer’s head of commercial aviation Arjan Meijer said on 10 September during an event in Washington, DC.
Meijer notes the order will see Avelo become the USA’s first E195-E2 operator.
The order “gives us a pipeline of aircraft we can rely on”, says Avelo chief executive Andrew Levy, noting the airline intends to acquire the jets through 2032.
Avelo now operates 22 Boeing 737NGs. “A smaller airplane would optimise the opportunity that we have,” says Levy.
News of the order comes days after Avelo said it had secured additional financing, which it says is its highest total since its Series A funding round in 2020.
“We offer safe, reliable, basic air transportation with everyday low fares,” says Levy. ”We think that what we are onto is clearly something that works.”
He notes that Avelo typically serves small airports, some of which previously lacked commercial air service. Operating small aircraft to such places makes sense, Levy says. “This is the perfect airplane to do this”.
He says E195-E2s have “best-in-class short-field performance” and will open Avelo to “opportunities that no other aircraft can serve”.
Levy also calls Embraer “second to none in service”.
Avelo came on the scene in 2021 during the height of the pandemic, launching flights with a small fleet of 737s and primarily serving secondary routes.
Levy told FlightGlobal in October last year that the airline was starting to consider acquiring additional aircraft to facilitate growth. At the time, Levy suggested Avelo suggested Avelo would likely go with more 737s.
But Levy also said Avelo was considering Embraer E-Jets and Airbus A220s.
