Eastern Airways is re-entering the E-Jet market during January with the initial return of the Embraer 170 aircraft type to its fleet.

The UK regional airline is seeing significant growth in the ad-hoc charter market for 70-100 seat jets, and the first of these aircraft will be delivered later this month. Both the Embraer 170 and 190 have the ability to offer steep approaches to restricted airports, good short-field performance and long-range operations making them one of the most flexible aircraft in the up to 100-seat market.

Roger Hage, Eastern Airways’ general manager of commercial and operations, said: “We are pleased to see the return of the E-Jets to our fleet giving us an entry into new ad-hoc charter and ACMI markets, alongside an option to evolve our scheduled service network, especially as we expand this fleet through the year.”

The Embraer 170-100 LR jet has a range of over 1,800 miles and is powered by two General Electric CF34-8E 5A1 jet engines with a maximum cruise speed of 553mph.  It brings routes such as Norwich – Aberdeen within an hour’s flight time, and most European destinations, including the Mediterranean, to a little over two hours.

The carrier will also add three of the larger Embraer 190 during the year, a type already commonly operated by both UK and European airlines. This will offer expanded larger capacity scheduled and charter opportunities to fit the airline’s growth plans, complementing the Embraer 170.