Embraer 170 Jet Granted Approval For Steep Approach

SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The EMBRAER 170 commercial jet has been granted steep approach certification by the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The EMBRAER 170 is the first E-Jets family aircraft to achieve this operating capability, which represents the final step towards flying into/out of London City Airport (LCY). The EMBRAER 190 will be the second E-Jet to incorporate the same functionality, and its certification is on schedule for December 2008.

The steep approach procedure was developed especially for operating at LCY because its instrument landing requires a glide slope of 5.5 degrees, as opposed to the standard 3.0 degrees. The certification was achieved after a successful development campaign that also included dedicated flights into that airport.

"The capability for operating at London City Airport is something that we have promised to the market from the very beginning of the EMBRAER 170 design," said Mauro Kern, Embraer's Executive Vice President, Airline Market. "It was a big challenge overcome by our development team. European airlines can now count on an important tool to fly to/from the high yield LCY market."

The EMBRAER 170 will perform the steep approach using a software solution developed on the existing fly-by-wire system, which means improved flying qualities and control and reduced pilot workload, with less weight and maintenance cost. The range of the aircraft (over 750 nautical miles, or 1,389 km) covers all current routes operated from LCY and gives more flexibility to airlines to add new destinations in a high yield market.

The operation of the EMBRAER 170 at LCY has long been awaited by the airport and the airlines, because the jet fleet operating there is almost 15 years old and now has a replacement alternative in a state-of-the-art aircraft that offers reliability, performance, comfort and adequate economics.

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