Airbus and Boeing may remain the dominant force in aircraft production, but aircraft programmes from the likes of ATR, Bombardier, De Havilland and Embraer have, and continue to play an important role, especially in emerging and regional markets. The seating capacity of aircraft manufactured by these companies are ideal in both enhancing regional point-to-point connectivity and delivering feed into hubs.
In parts of the world they provide a right-size solution to serve markets where demand levels cannot support the operation of larger aircraft. Where there is such demand they can facilitate the introduction of additional frequencies, especially at off-peak times and driving the frequencies demand by regular travellers.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer has been especially successful with its E-Jet and more modern E2 family. The company delivered a total of 198 jets in 2019, of which 89 were commercial aircraft, this is up +8% on 2018. As of 31-Dec-2019 its firm order backlog totalled USD16.8 billion and included 181 E175s, 4 E190s, 16 190E2s and 137 195E2s.
Our QUESTION OF THE WEEK is... Embraer talks about its right-size capacity solution, but where in the world do the E-Jet and E2 families have the greatest share of aircraft movements?
JOIN IN THE FUN: Send your answers to: The Blue Swan Daily Content Team
Our previous question asked… Hubs play an important role in air connectivity, but at which of the world's top 50 airports have the strongest dependence on a single airline's network?
A hub airport is used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. They serve as transfer points to get passengers to their final destination and work as part of a hub-and-spoke system with every additional connection delivering both inbound and outbound flows. To succeed they require strong connectivity and are normally anchored by the activities of a single airline, normally, but not always one of the world's major air carriers.
The Blue Swan Daily analysis of OAG schedule data for the current northern hemisphere winter 2019/2020 season shows that of the world's top 50 airports by capacity, it is Charlotte-Douglas International Airport that has the greatest reliance on the operations of a single carrier, American Airlines.
The US major accounts for 89.9% of the departure capacity at the hub for the full schedule. This is just ahead of Doha's Hamad International Airport where Qatar Airways holds 88.8% of the departure capacity and Dallas Fort Worth International where American Airlines has an 85.8% share.
Four other airports see more than three-quarters of their capacity during the schedule controlled by a single published carrier - Moscow's Sheremetyevo, where Aeroflot Russian Airlines dominates (83.8% share); Istanbul Airport, where Turkish Airlines leads the way (81.1% share); Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a major Delta Air Lines hub (78.6% share); and George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport, a United Airlines hub (76.4% share).