Helvetic Airways Operates Largest Ever Jet into London City Airport
Helvetic Airways is making history at London City Airport for the second time in three and a half years: After the Swiss regional airline became the world's first commercial airline to land an Embraer E190-E2 at London City Airport in autumn 2021. Today, 26 March 2025, Helvetic Airways' Embraer E195-E2 was the first aircraft of this type to touch down on the runway of London City Airport as part of a regular scheduled flight. With a length of 41.5 metres and a total of 134 seats, the E195-E2 is now the largest aircraft flying from London City Airport. The E195-E2 also has the lowest fuel consumption per seat of all aircraft operating at London City.
“Due to its steep approach, London City Airport places high demands on both the aircraft and the spe-cially trained cockpit crews. Helvetic Airways has both, and we are proud to be the first airline to bring the larger E195-E2 to London City Airport following its premiere with the Embraer E190-E2 in 2021. This makes us the only airline in the world to land at London City with three different Embraer aircraft, allowing us to offer our wet-lease customers the greatest possible flexibility”, said Tobias Pogorevc, CEO of Helvetic Airways, in London during the celebrations for the maiden flight. The flight, which was operated by Helvetic Airways on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines on a wet-lease basis, took off from Zurich at 11.30 a.m. and landed at London City Airport shortly after midday.
Alison FitzGerald, CEO of London City Airport, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the first commercial flight of the E195-E2 aircraft to London City, which demonstrates our commitment to working with our airlines and manufacturers to introduce cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft to the airport. The E195-E2 opens up a range of new and exciting destinations for our passengers, and by using quieter and cleaner aircraft this enables us to grow and meet our passenger cap without increasing the number of flight movements.”
“London City, where 75% of flights are on Embraer aircraft, is a special place for us. It’s great to cele-brate another milestone in the E2 story with our partners from Helvetic Airways and London City”, said Marie-Louise Philippe, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Head of Region Europe and Central Asia, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “Offering 30% lower CO2 emissions per seat and a 63% smaller noise footprint compared to the previous generation aircraft, the E195-E2 is the largest, most efficient, and most sustainable aircraft certified for LCY.”
Philippe added, “Embraer has developed the world’s first automatic takeoff system for aircraft called E2TS – Embraer Enhanced Takeoff System. When certified, E2TS will increase the range of the E195-E2, specifically from LCY, from 3200 km to 4000 km. Bringing new destinations such as Istanbul, Gran Canaria, Casablanca, Athens, and Cairo and within range of London City for the first time.*
*The E195-E2’s regular range, from airfields without LCY’s challenging steep approach, is 5500KM (3000NM)
Swiss regional airline Helvetic Airways provides a range of short- and medium-haul air services from various Swiss airports. The carrier deploys its Embraer E190-E2, E195-E2 and E190-E1 aircraft on scheduled, charter and wet-lease flights. Up to 15 Helvetic Airways aircraft are being operated on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines under a long-term wet-lease agreement.
The Helvetic Airways workforce numbers over 560 employees. The company also has its own maintenance hangar and operation at Zurich Airport, which is further home to its corporate head office. The airline offers innovative part-time employment models to its cockpit and cabin personnel. For its cabin attendants these include ‘Ski&Fly’, ‘Fly&Study’ and the fully flexible ‘Fly your way’ model. Details of current vacancies at Helvetic will be found at career.helvetic.com.
Helvetic Airways has been working closely with Horizon Swiss Flight Academy AG (www.horizon-sfa.ch), which is based in Kloten, Switzerland, since 2008. Both companies are part of the Helvetic Airways Group, which is domiciled in Freienbach, Switzerland.
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Simon Benz
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