Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development will finance the export of 24 Embraer E175s for SkyWest Airlines. Deliveries commenced in August and will run through April 2022.
The R$2.6 billion (US$500 million) financing will help strengthen the Brazilian aeronautical sector at a time when it is still suffering from the pandemic. The industry is of strategic importance to the Brazilian government, and Embraer is the country’s leading exporter – in terms of value – of manufactured goods.
Bruno Aranha, Director of Productive and Socio-environmental Credit at BNDES, emphasizes the importance of the institution in the financing of Brazilian exports: “BNDES has a consolidated and significant presence in the Brazilian export system. This agreement is another important step for BNDES, supporting Embraer in resuming sales growth”.
The E175, which carries up to 88 passengers, was one of the models least affected by the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently more than 600 units in operation worldwide.
Robert Simmons, SkyWest’s chief financial officer, noted in a press release that “as the world’s largest owner and operator of E175s, we at SkyWest are pleased to have BNDES as our primary financier.” SkyWest carried nearly 45 million passengers in 2019 on 2,300 daily flights to destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
