Helvetic Airways Embraer E190-E2 makes a record-length flight
The transatlantic delivery flight for the latest member of Helvetic Airways’ flagship Embraer E190-E2 fleet took the aircraft from Natal, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, to Zurich in Switzerland. Helvetic Airways’ fifth new E190-E2 left Brazil at 06:37 (local time) on Thursday 2 July and landed in Zurich at 20:48 (local time) the same evening. The non-stop flight had taken 9 hours and 10 minutes and totalled 7 488 kilometres – numbers more usually associated with a long-haul aircraft than with a short- to medium-haul jet.
The flight was performed under optimum conditions that bear no comparison to regular passenger operations. And with the meteorological conditions also ideal, the crew of José Alfredo Thomé Penna Jr. (Embraer pilot), Almir Suman de Azevedo (Embraer pilot), Giovanni Zanivan (Helvetic Airways pilot), Sebastian Fischer (Helvetic Airways flying engineer) and Bruno Jans (Helvetic Airways project leader) conducted it to perfection.
In regular passenger service the Embraer E190-E2 has a maximum takeoff weight of 54 tonnes and can transport up to 110 passengers over 5 200 kilometres. With its impressive latest-generation Pratt & Whitney PW1900G engines, the E190-E2 also consumes more than 20% less fuel per seat than its predecessor type.
Swiss regional airline Helvetic Airways provides a range of short- and medium-haul air services from various Swiss airports. The carrier deploys its Embraer E190-E2, E195-E2 and E190-E1 aircraft on scheduled, charter and wet-lease flights. At least six Helvetic Airways Embraer E190-E2s and E195-E2s are being operated in winter 2023/24 and summer 2024 on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines in summer 2023 under a long-term wet-lease agreement.
The Helvetic Airways workforce numbers over 510 employees. The company also has its own maintenance hangar and operation at Zurich Airport, which is further home to its corporate head office. The airline offers innovative part-time employment models to its cockpit and cabin personnel. For its cabin attendants these include ‘Ski&Fly’, ‘Fly&Study’ and the fully flexible ‘Fly your way’ model. Details of current vacancies at Helvetic will be found at career.helvetic.com.
Helvetic Airways has been working closely with Horizon Swiss Flight Academy AG (www.horizon-sfa.ch), which is based in Kloten, Switzerland, since 2008. Both companies are part of the Helvetic Airways Group, which is domiciled in Freienbach, Switzerland.
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