Summary
- TUI fly Belgium and Porter have added new long Embraer E195-E2 routes.
- But Lagos to Johannesburg remains number one globally; it competes directly with the Airbus A340-300.
- Porter will operate five of the top seven services this winter.
The world has gained three new Embraer E195-E2 routes. Beginning this winter, they are all over 2,000 miles (3,219 km) and make the top seven list.
2,000+ miles and five+ hours
The longest seven routes are summarized in the following table. Canada’s Porter announced West Coast US service from Toronto Pearson on October 3rd, with daily service using its 132-seat E2s to San Francisco and Los Angeles beginning in January.
Photo: Toronto Pearson International Airport
They came shortly after leisure carrier TUI fly Belgium added Antwerp to Tel Aviv with its 136-seat E2s. Renowned for diamonds, Antwerp is Belgium’s second most populous city. Due to the airport’s very short runway (4,954 feet, 1,510 meters), TUI only uses the E2 there.
|
Rank |
Miles (km) |
Max block time* |
Route |
Airline |
Winter flights |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
2,803 (4,511) |
6h 20m |
Lagos-Johannesburg |
Air Peace |
Weekly |
Competes directly with SAA’s A340-300s |
|
2 |
2,259 (3,636) |
5h 52m |
Toronto Pearson-San Francisco |
Porter |
Daily |
Begins January 25th |
|
3 |
2,214 (3,562) |
5h 39m |
Ottawa-Vancouver |
Porter |
Daily |
|
|
4 |
2,175 (3,501) |
5h 35m |
Toronto Pearson-Los Angeles |
Porter |
Daily |
Begins January 16th |
|
5 |
2,100 (3,380) |
5h 21m |
Toronto Pearson-Victoria |
Porter |
Daily |
|
|
6 |
2,085 (3,355) |
5h 19m |
Toronto Pearson-Vancouver |
Porter |
Five daily |
|
|
7 |
2,033 (3,271) |
5h 25m |
Antwerp-Tel Aviv |
TUI fly Belgium |
Twice-weekly |
Begins December 14th |
|
* Either direction |
Air Peace to Johannesburg
Air Peace’s Lagos to Johannesburg service is just short of the 3,000 miles (4,828 km) I consider long-haul. For simple context, the route only covers about 10% less distance than London Heathrow-Lagos and is almost the same distance as New York JFK-Quito.
Looking at flight time, analysis of Flightradar24 data since the start of September shows that Air Peace had a maximum duration of 6h 5m to South Africa and 6h 6m back. Both were only slightly shorter than the maximum block time.
Photo: Embraer
The airport pair is close to the maximum range of the E2. According to Embraer, the limit with a full load of passengers in a single-class configuration is 2,992 miles (4,815 km); I converted the distance from nautical miles.
However, that’s the theoretical or brochure range with everything optimized. The range will be lower in real-world situations depending on an airline’s aircraft configuration, overall weight on specific flights, winds, exact routings, airport elevations and temperatures, etc. For Air Peace, the extra baggage that would be commonplace to/from Nigeria must also be considered.
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Payload restricted
Air Peace’s E2s only have 124 seats, rather than the max of 146 in a single class configuration. They would, therefore, be much lighter, meaning less fuel consumption and increased range.
Photo: Embraer
Despite this, it inevitably has a payload restriction, particularly back to Nigeria. The long distance would not be helped by reduced take-off performance from Johannesburg because of the airport’s relatively high elevation and hot summers. This means fewer passengers from which to break even, so there is a need to charge higher fares. In reality, Air Peace’s flights are unlikely to sell out anyway.
What do you make of it all? Let us know by commenting.
Sources of information: Cirium, OAG, Embraer, Google Flights, airline websites, Flightradar24.com, ch-aviation.com