South Africa Certifies Embraer’s E190-E2 And E195-E2

Embraer has announced that the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) certified its E190-E2 and E195-E2 aircraft, which are the second-generation evolution of the E190 and E195 regional jets.

The news that the Brazilian planemaker’s jets were certified by SACAA came almost three months after Azorra, the United States-based aircraft lessor, announced that it had agreed to place 10 E195-E2s from its backlog with South Africa-based Airlink.

At the time, the lessor said that the agreement, whose scope was set to be finalized, would see Airlink taking delivery of the E195-E2s starting “later this year through 2027.” The South African carrier already has a significant fleet of 70 EJets, including 28 ERJ145, seven E170, 29 E190, and six E195s.

de Villiers Engelbrecht, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airlink, said the authority’s decision to certify the two next-generation EJets and their Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines was an important milestone as the airline prepares to take delivery of the 10 E195-E2s and put them into service.

“The E2’s additional capacity and range will let Airlink respond to increased demand on some of our most popular routes and extend our destination network so that we can provide convenient connections for customers in new markets."

There are no other South African operators of E190 or E195 jets who could potentially look to upgrade their fleets to the next-generation versions of the aircraft. South African airlines with smaller Embraer Regional Jets (ERJ), namely the ERJ135 and ERJ145, include Federal Air, Sahara African Aviation, and Solenta Aviation, according to planespotters.net, while another South African airline, CemAir, has Mitsubishi (née Bombardier) CRJs, some of which are comparable in size to the E190-E2 or the E195-E2, with the latter two types being at least a slight size upgrade compared to the now-aging CRJs.

According to Arjan Meijer, the President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, with the manufacturer’s firm position in Africa’s 150-seat segment, the continent has been a key focus for Embraer. “As a long-standing Embraer customer, it’s great that Airlink will soon be South Africa’s first E2 operator,” Meijer stated, highlighting that the jet is “perfectly suited to support Airlink’s ambitious growth plans across Southern Africa.”

After entering service in 2018 (E190-E2, Widerøe) and 2019 (E195-E2, Azul), both E2 jets have gained approval in more and more countries. The last came in April 2025, when the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia (CAA) approved the two aircraft for commercial flying in the country.

However, sales have been sluggish. As of June 30, 2025, Embraer had secured 67 firm orders for the E190-E2, delivering 28 aircraft, while the E195-E2’s firm orders numbered 330 with 140 deliveries, resulting in a backlog of 39 and 190 aircraft, respectively.

The E175, the previous-generation EJet, has secured 1,000 firm orders, and despite a production run that began in the early 2000s, the type’s firm order backlog is 208 aircraft at the end of Q2 2025. The regional jet remains widely popular in the United States, where firmly standing scope clause agreements have prevented Embraer from further development of the E175-E2.

Still, on September 2, 2025, Embraer handed over its 1,900th EJet when it delivered an E190-E2 to Virgin Australia from Azorra’s backlog. The aircraft, registered as VH-E2A, has, at the time of writing, departed from Embraer’s facilities at São José dos Campos Airport (SJK).

According to the Brazilian planemaker, the E190-E2s, which will be replacing Virgin Australia’s current regional workhorses, the Fokker F100s, will deliver fuel savings of 30%.