This is one of those subjects of curiosity that certainly most of the readers would not know about this story. Currently, Conviasa, Venezuela's state-owned airline, operates an Embraer jet that has already served the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), did you know? Let's understand a little more.
The Embraer 190
This plane in this case is the Embraer 190, a jet aimed at short and medium flights manufactured in Brazil since 2004. The aircraft was a bet by the Brazilian manufacturer as it had already been successful with the smaller E170/175 models.
Soon, the Embraer 190 became a reference and made the manufacturer reach almost half of the aircraft with up to 100 engers sold worldwide, with more than 500 aircraft sold. In Brazil, Trip Linhas Aéreas was the first company to operate the E170/175 family, but it was Azul who became the first Brazilian company to use the Embraer 190 and 195 in its fleet.
The E190 can carry up to 104 engers in a single configuration or up to 114 engers in a denser configuration. The jet still has three versions with three different ranges: 3.334km, the LR version with a 4.445km range and the AR version with a range of 4.537km.
Executive version and incorporation by the FAB
Embraer also created a version in executive configuration or for VIP transport between 2006 and 2007 called Lineage 1000.
The launch of the Lineage 1000 made the plane the largest executive jet in its category, based on the Embraer 190 and capable of comfortably transporting 19 engers, flying a range of 8.519km equipped with two General Electric CF34 engines. .
In 2010, the Brazilian Air Force incorporated two Embraer 190 jets in VIP configuration to replace the old Boeing 737-200, famous 'Scraps' as they were called, which would then become the VC-2.
Despite the VIP configuration, the aircraft purchased by the FAB were not the Lineage 1000 version, they were commercial aircraft with a VIP configuration. The first two E190s incorporated were ed FAB2590 with the name “Bartolomeu de Gusmão” and FAB2591 with the name “Augusto Severo”.
They would the Airbus A319ACJ purchased in 2005 by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to replace the Boeing 707, called 'Sucatão'.
In 2011, the Brazilian Air Force received an Embraer Lineage 1000 for the first time, the reason being the scheduled maintenance of the two E190s that served the presidency. The new plane would provide and would not fail in case of missions from the president.
The Grupo de Transporte Especial (GTE) issued a note at the time confirming the temporary operation of the Lineage by the FAB until the maintenance schedules for the two planes could be fulfilled in their respective times.
The aircraft in question was standardized with FAB colors and received registration FAB2592. The plane was ceded by Embraer as its original buyer, FlairJet from the United Kingdom, did not receive the executive jet and so it was left in the care of the manufacturer.
The sale to Conviasa
We come to the interesting part of the story, how did this executive jet end up in Venezuela and fly for the state-owned Conviasa?
After three years temporarily serving the Brazilian Air Force, the Lineage 1000 returned to Embraer's care in 2012 and stayed for some time with the registration PR-LET. That same year, the Brazilian government, which at the time was President Dilma Rousseff, received an official visit from the then President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez.
The purpose of the visit of the Venezuelan delegation would be for diplomatic matters in relation to Mercosur, and also to formalize the purchase of 6 Embraer jets for the state-owned Conviasa. In the purchase agreement, they were all for the E190 version with capacity for 104 engers in a single class of service.
After serious health problems of then-president Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro then took office on an interim basis in 2012 and with the death of the president, he took office for good.
Nicolás Maduro, in his first year in office, was looking for a plane with a more comfortable configuration and range to carry out trips. It was then that the business opportunity arose in 2013, when he asked his Minister of Waterway and Air Transport to negotiate with Embraer the purchase of another 14 E190 aircraft.
Among these negotiations ended up including that Lineage 1000 that had been rejected by the buyer and was stopped without use because there were no buyers. The aircraft was sold along with the other new Embraer 190s to Conviasa.
The plane was then standardized with the colors of the state-owned company and maintained the VIP configuration, as it would be destined for the presidential operation of Nicolás Maduro's entourage.
The Lineage 1000 then received registration YV3016 and was delivered to the Venezuelan company Conviasa in 2014. The same plane was in Brazil earlier this year for the inauguration of then-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but without the presence of Maduro.
The president of Venezuela would only come to Brazil in the month of May, but aboard an Airbus A319ACJ and his entourage in an Embraer 190 for engers, both with Conviasa livery.
