By Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, has taken delivery of its first Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, and used the opportunity to promote the cause of an endangered species – the Snow Leopard.
The aircraft, which arrived today at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport in Astana after a series of ferry flights from Brazil, is the first of five Embraer E2 aircraft scheduled to be delivered to Air Astana. Air Astana currently operates a fleet of nine Embraer E190 aircraft on domestic and low-density regional services, with the first aircraft having entered service in 2011. The new generation Embraer E190-E2 aircraft will gradually replace older Embraer E190s in its fleet.
The new aircraft features a special Air Astana “Snow Leopard” livery intended to draw global attention to the threat of extinction faced by this beautiful large wild cat, which is a native of the mountain ranges in southern Kazakhstan.
The twin engine, single aisle Embraer E190-E2 belongs to the family of upgraded E-Jets, which offer lower operating costs, emissions and noise levels, with a range of more than 5,000 km.
Clearly the E190-E2, and slightly larger E195-E2 have a profile that needs to be highlighted, because the Snow Leopard is not the only animal to be featured…
(Photos: courtesy Embraer)
