Air Costa to Commercially Fly the First Embraer E190 Flight Today

Air Costa had received DGCA approval on 27 March to fly its two new leased Embraer E190s. On 30 March it used one of them on a commercial flight, to cover an unplanned problem.

What happened

One of the airline's two Embraer E170s developed a cracked windshield while operating into Bangalore. It had to stay on the ground for a few days until the windshield was replaced. To avoid disrupting the schedule, one of the E190s was pulled into service. The airline's E190s seat 112 passengers in a single class, which is 45 more than the two class E170s.

The flight

The E190, registered VT-LBR, flew Air Costa flight LB649 from Hyderabad (ICAO VOHS, IATA HYD) to Jaipur (ICAO VIJP, IATA JAI). It was the first commercial flight of an Embraer E190 in India. The flight was due to leave at 14:05 IST and left at 15:24 IST, a delay of 1 hour 19 minutes. The delay came from moving the E190 from parking into line operations and the E170 out of it at short notice.

Why it matters

The E190s had been expected to enter commercial service on 5 April 2014. The early start was an unplanned milestone for Indian regional aviation. It also showed that when an airline is starting up and its fleet is small, losing a single aircraft can have large operational effects.

Air Costa planned to stand out from its competitors with its fares, connectivity and cabin seating comfort.