E-Jets in New Zealand?

[hasegawa]

Who can tell me?

Is there any E-Jet (Embraer 170 - Embraer 195) registred in New Zealand? I test at the moment the E-Jets from virtualcool and want to repaint them. I am looking for Airlines, which use this aircraft or want to buy them in the next time.

[Naki]

No - not yet anyway - the rumour is that Pacific Blue is planning to use either E170 & E190s (or both) which have been ordered and now entering service with its parent airline, Virgin Blue in Australia. If this happens expect Air New Zealand to counter with their own regional jets - maybe "E" jets as well.

[HardCorePawn]

To be honest, I do not think that they will fly here... our runways are just too short... as an example (from embraer's website) the Take-off distances (MTOW, ISA, SL) for the 170, 175, 190 & 195 are:

170: 1644m
175: 2244m
190: 2056m
195: 2179m

Now take a look at the Take-off distances at several of our airports currently serviced by 737's:

Rotorua (NZRO): max 1770m (but can be as low as 976m)
Queenstown (NZQN): 1991m
Dunedin (NZDN): 1960m
Invercargill (NZNV): 2200m
Wellington (NZWN): 1996m

Also, from what I have read, they have fairly limited cargo capacity... which makes them a little less attractive from a financial point of view.

[Naki]

Crikey they have longer T/O distances than the 737? (and A320). In more than one of the Aussie & NZ aviation mags (including this months Pacifc Wings) there is strong suggestion that Pacific Blue will use E170/190s in NZ as will as 737-800s. I guess it is just a matter of watch this space.

[benwynn]

If so, it would have to be an E170- But I say its unlikley they will use them- Virgin just ordered a heap of New 737-700s which might be used

[Mark Richards]

Unlikely that Pacific Blue will get any E-170s but E-190s a definite possibility as they are ETOPS certified on delivery whereas the E-170 is not.

I've not watched VH-ZHA come and go from Melbourne on a number of occaisions and can confirm that the E-Jets use a LOT less runway than a B737 and the Virgin Blue ones will be moving to more regional ports in Australia within the next 12-18 months including a number whose runways are a lot shorter than the ones mentioned. I've seen her land on RWY16 and exit on ECHO, but was well slow before crossing RWY27 but continued the roll through to Echo. On departure she has been airbourne MUCH earlier than a 737.

Remember that the figures from HardCore are MTOW departures and aircraft rarely depart on domestic sectors (especially in New Zealand due to the short sector length) at anywhere near Maximum Takeoff Weight. Even looking at the TOW for a 500nm sector, the required runway lengths are well below all those mentioned.

The E-170 is a beautiful aircraft and the E-190 will be as well. I've been fortunate to get on board and have a look and the 2x2 seats are excellent and almost as wide as the business class Qantas 747 seat I sat in in July and are the widest economy class seats on any airline in this part of the world.

The E-170 is now on Virgin Blue's AOC and ZHA enters revenue service next Tuesday. VH-ZHB is currently being delivered to Brisbane from Brazil and will enter revenue service in a couple of weeks time.

The two new Pacific Blue B738s (ZK-PBG and ZK-PBJ) are from the Virgin Blue fleet (ex VH-VUB and VH-VUD respectively) and are due in New Zealand early November. VUB flew from Brisbane to Townsville on Tuesday night to be repainted from Virgin Blue to Pacific Blue livery. VUD is already in Pac Blue livery so just needs the registration changed so a quick change.

The next two Virgin Blue B738s to be delievered (VH-VUM being delivered next week and VH-VUN being delievered in a couple of weeks time) are both coming in Pacific Blue livery.

[hasegawa]

If any aircraft use the maximum payload maybe it is so and the runways are a bit short. But on the other Side I think you can argument, that with the Brazilian shuttle from Sao Paulo Congonhas to Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont you can´t use all of the aircraft, that are actually there in use.

- Boeing 737-300
- Boeing 737-700
- Fokker F. 100
- Airbus A 319

Look at the book and you can see, that the runways in Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont are only 4.364 and 4.156 ft long. Not enough for any of the aircraft...

They use the fuel to reduce the weight and the payload is also not used to the maximum. Between Sao Paulo and Rio are only somewhat about 40 Minutes time of flight. And so they can use any of the aircraft for this flight. Reduce the weight and You can do...