Embraer is stepping up its focus on the growing aviation market in India, opening a new office there and promoting its E-Jets as a means of improving connectivity in the country.
Immediately prior to the Paris Air Show, Embraer announced the establishment of a fully owned Indian subsidiary that will have its corporate office in AeroCity, New Delhi.
The establishment of a subsidiary aims to strengthen the company’s interests across all sectors of aviation, together with services and support infrastructure. This includes establishing teams across corporate functions and specialized cells focused on procurement, supply chain and engineering.
“We had sales people there [previously], but we’re now really taking it from a corporate level,” Embraer Commercial Aircraft CEO Arjan Meijer said at the show. “We see India as a very important market.”
Whereas most attention has until now been paid to the major metropolitan areas, “the second- and third-level cities need to be connected to allow India to develop as a whole.”
He compared the situation to that in Brazil, where carrier Azul “has really connected the smallest cities.”
He believed a similar situation would arise in India, pointing to regional carrier Star Air, which had been “very successful” in bringing air links to smaller cities. Star Air, which operates from three bases at Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Belagavi, currently operates four E175-E1s plus five earlier-generation ERJ145s and is aiming to increase its fleet to 30 aircraft during 2026.
The E175, with capacities ranging from 76 to 88 seats, “is a great solution for small cities,” Meijer said, but the significantly larger E190 and E195-E2 will see considerably more demand as the types' engine problems are resolved in the next year or two, he said.
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