Alliance Airlines (QQ, Brisbane International) has signed a commitment for an incremental thirty second-hand E190s from AerCap with deliveries expected between September 2023 and January 2026.
The airline did not identify any specific airframes but said that all 30 of the regional jets are currently operated on a first-hand basis by a US-based airline. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that the only aircraft fulfilling this criteria are those currently operated by JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK), which is in the process of replacing them with A220-300s. The aircraft are between 15.1 and 17.5 years of age and are all of the ERJ 190-100AR variant.
"The aircraft will be delivered in the United States and then flown to Alliance's new base maintenance facility in Rockhampton for refurbishment and Australian certification," the carrier said, adding that the additional E190s would be used across its various platforms.
The Australian regional carrier said that some of the aircraft could be parted out to support its operational E190s, although it was impossible to predict specific numbers at this time.
"Final purchase price for each aircraft will be adjusted for the maintenance status of the airframe and the two fitted engines in the week preceding each delivery. Accordingly, there is a significant degree of variation in unit cost and a totally firm fleet price is unable to be given at this time. The aircraft will be purchased one at a time over a two-year period by a mix of debt and cash generated through the operation of the company's existing Fokker Aircraft and E170 aircraft fleet," Alliance Airlines said.
Alliance Airlines currently operates twenty-seven E190s (procured during the COVID-19 pandemic), twenty-five Fokker 100s, and fourteen Fokker 70s. It said that assuming all the newly signed E190s would enter operations, its fleet would eventually reach sixty-three E190s and thirty-seven Fokker jets. Alliance Airlines is 19.9%-owned by Qantas Group and a proposed full takeover is under regulatory review.
