Air Astana has celebrated the delivery of its first Embraer E190-E2 at a ceremony held in the carrier’s Aviation Technical Center hangar at Astana Airport today.
The aircraft is the first of five ordered under a leasing agreement signed with AerCap in 2017, with the remaining four aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2019. The aircraft is also the first E2 to be delivered to an airline in the CIS.
The new generation Embraer E190-E2 aircraft will replace older Embraer E190s in the fleet, which have operated with Air Astana since 2011. All aircraft delivered directly from the manufacturer’s factory in Brazil.
The new aircraft features a special Snow Leopard livery, which is intended to draw global attention to the threat of extinction faced by this large wild cat, which is a native to the mountain ranges of southern Kazakhstan.
Air Astana president and chief executive officer, Peter Foster said: “All of us at Air Astana are pleased to receive our first E190-E2, and we look forward to a smooth entry into service and a simple transition for our pilots. We know Embraer’s E-Jets well, and have high expectations for their new generation aircraft in terms of economics, environmental impact, and levels of comfort and convenience for our customers.”
Air Astana will operate the Embraer 190-E2 on domestic services across Kazakhstan, as well as to destinations in Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and China. The inaugural E2 commercial service from Astana to Almaty in scheduled for the 19 December 2018.
