Embraer unveils new livery for e-freight series ahead of Farnborough Airshow

Embraer first announced the P2F conversions of its popular E-Jet family of aircraft on March 7, 2022. During this announcement, Meijer stated:

"Perfectly positioned to fill the gap in the freighter market between turboprops and larger narrowbody jets, our P2F E-Jet conversion hits the market as demand for airfreight continues to take off, and as e-commerce and trade in general undergoes a global structural transformation."

Embraer expects this aircraft to fill a unique gap in the cargo market since typically turboprop aircraft are used for shorter routes and larger narrowbody aircraft for longer routes. However, there are not many active offerings of aircraft to fill middle-distance routes.

Embraer's decision to explore the freighter market was influenced by several factors including evaluating current market conditions and realizing that many narrowbody freighters in service are inefficient and nearing their retirement windows. Embraer's new freight conversions are set to take place on newer aircraft and offer up to 30% lower operating costs. These conversions also have much larger cargo capacity than most cargo turboprops as well as up to three times their range depending on the specific model.

Since announcing these plans in March 2022, Embraer has made significant progress in development and certification processes. The first converted aircraft was unveiled shortly after program initiation with several fleet orders following almost immediately including a ten-aircraft order from Nordic Aviation Capital and a twenty-aircraft order from Lanzhou Aviation Industry Development Group.

The first freighter conversion prototype has been undergoing ground tests since it was unveiled in 2022 but completed its maiden flight on April 5, 2024. The successful flight lasted approximately two hours as changes in performance were evaluated by Embraer's flight testing team. Certification for P2F conversion is expected by Q3 this year.