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ECC Leasing Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Embraer, has leased four ERJ 135 pre-owned jets to South African Airlink. These aircraft – serial numbers 551, 620, 720 and 725 – will replace some of the airline’s turboprops and are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this month, making an important contribution to the transportation needs of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (fifa.com/worldcup).
“It is significant to Embraer that Airlink has chosen to source additional ERJ 135s from ECC, since this reaffirms the clear value that we, as the manufacturer, bring to the highly competitive pre-owned market. The ERJ 135 is a perfect fit for the airline’s network, and will certainly play a key role in the company’s future growth,” said Mark Dunnachie, Managing Director ECC Leasing.
South African Airlink’s ERJ 135 jets are configured in a 37-seat layout. They will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and deployed on regional routes that are expected to be increasingly busy, as the soccer World Cup event gets underway in June.
“We are very pleased to increase our fleet of ERJ 135 jets to meet the growing demand of our domestic and intra-regional markets,” said Rodger Foster, CEO of South African Airlink. “These regional jets will replace our oldest turboprops, improving reliability and quality of service. Travel time will be reduced, while providing a more comfortable cabin for our passengers. This is an opportune time for introducing larger and more efficient aircraft. Furthermore, we see clear benefits in dealing directly with the manufacturer, Embraer, through ECC.”
About South African Airlink
Privately owned South African Airlink was restyled in 1995, but its history can be traced back to the formation of Midlands Aviation in 1967. The airline has developed into South Africa’s first feeder network, specifically aimed at linking smaller towns with regional centers and hubs throughout the country. In 1997, South African Airlink joined South African Airways and South African Express in a powerful strategic alliance that led to the establishment of the leading aviation network in Africa.
South Africa Airlink serves an almost exclusively network of smaller community destinations, which is a component of a greater composite branded network system where South African Airways is the major part. The purpose of the greater branded network is that passengers can travel seamlessly between points within the network, via the major hubs, with interconnecting flights on more than one airline.
The company operates over 3,500 flights per month, carrying nearly 900,000 passengers to more than 25 destinations in Southern Africa during the year ended August 31, 2009. It is the only scheduled airline providing service to many of the smaller destinations in the Southern African region. Included in Airlink’s regional destination portfolio are such key business centers as Ndola and Lusaka (Zambia), Harare and Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Manzini (Swaziland), Maputo and Beira (Mozambique), and Maseru (Lesotho).
About ECC Leasing Company Limited
Embraer’s wholly owned subsidiary, ECC Leasing Company Limited (eccleasing.com), was incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2002, to manage and remarket Embraer’s pre-owned aircraft portfolio. To date, ECC has handled a total of 79 aircraft, 27 of which are under operating lease and 37 sold to airlines, corporations and government agencies in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The company deals with Embraer aircraft that may be acquired through trade-ins, and provides remarketing services for third parties, in connection with its sales campaigns.
Embraer (Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. - NYSE: ERJ; BM&FBovespa: EMBR3) is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jets up to 120 seats, and one of Brazil’s leading exporters. Embraer’s headquarters are located in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, and it has offices, industrial operations and customer service facilities in Brazil, China, France, Portugal, Singapore, and the United States. Founded in 1969, the Company designs, develops, manufactures and sells aircraft for the commercial aviation, executive aviation, and defense segments. The Company also provides after sales support and services to customers worldwide. On September 30, 2009, Embraer (embraer.com) had a workforce of 16,986 employees – not counting the employees of its partly owned subsidiaries – and its firm order backlog totaled US$ 18.6 billion.
This document may contain projections, statements and estimates regarding circumstances or events yet to take place. Those projections and estimates are based largely on current expectations, forecasts on future events and financial tendencies that affect Embraer’s businesses. Those estimates are subject to risks, uncertainties and suppositions that include, among others: general economic, political and trade conditions in Brazil and in those markets where Embraer does business; expectations on industry trends; the Company’s investment plans; its capacity to develop and deliver products on the dates previously agreed upon, and existing and future governmental regulations. The words “believe”, “may”, “is able”, “will be able”, “intend”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “expect” and other similar terms are supposed to identify potentialities. Embraer does not feel compelled to publish updates nor to revise any estimates due to new information, future events or any other facts. In view of the inherent risks and uncertainties, such estimates, events and circumstances may not take place. The actual results can therefore differ substantially from those previously published as Embraer expectations.
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Christine Manna
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carlos.camargo[.]embraer.com.br 
