India Could Partner With Embraer On Its Planned Turboprop Aircraft

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)

Taking the plan of its proposed turboprop aircraft to the next level, Embraer is looking for potential partners worldwide. The Brazilian plane manufacturer is a dominant force in the regional jet market and is seeking to diversify its product offering with a new turboprop. And India is also being considered to partner up with the planemaker for the project, Trend reports citing Simple Flying .

On May 10th, Embraer's Commercial Aviation Chief Executive Arjan Meijer gave an update about the potential next steps towards launching its proposed new regional turboprop airplane. Speaking with Reuters, Meijer said that Embraer is in conversation with multiple players for the project.

Among the countries Embraer is looking towards is India, where it is currently in talks with potential partners. Of course, these are initial steps, and the company is exploring all its options by examining suitable partnerships not just in India but all across the world.

Embraer had said in 2020 that it could opt for a combination of industrial and financial backing. But as Reuters points out, some analysts expect a more traditional approach based on risk-sharing deals with suppliers.

India is gradually building its portfolio in aerospace technology and manufacturing. There have been some advancements over the years, with manufacturing giants partnering up with Indian companies for their products.

Boeing and Tata are in a joint venture called Tata Boeing Space Limited, which manufactures the Apache fuselage in India for operation within India and internationally. Airbus has also tied up with the Tata Advance System to replace the AVRO aircraft of the Indian Air Force with Airbus C295.

State-owned aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has also taken significant steps, including manufacturing the Hindustan-228, the Indian version of the Dornier-228.

Furthermore, various Indian companies now feature in the global supply chain ecosystem for Airbus and Boeing. Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director of Airbus India and South Asia, says that every commercial aircraft or helicopter that Airbus manufactures today has parts, design, or technology from India.

Embraer is looking to launch the project sometime in the middle of next year so that the plane could enter service in late 2027 or early 2028. It has issued a request for proposals to engine makers and hopes to finalize a decision by the end of the year.

With DeHavilland Canada halting production of the Dash 8-400 planes and ATR not having made significant technological advancements in ATR 42 and 72 aircraft, Embraer sees the opportunity for a new advanced product in the regional turboprop segment.

Meijer told Reuters that the proposed Embraer plane would be less noisy than existing planes and have 70- and 90- seat versions, with the larger one carrying more passengers than the ATR 72.

Last year, Simple Flying caught up with Embraer's Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Rodrigo Silva e Souza where he discussed several aspects of the proposed turboprop, including why it is needed, why it's designed to have engines at the back, and why Embraer has doubled its sales estimations.

• India
• Embraer

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