London City Airport (LCY) reached a milestone on Tuesday with the landing of the largest passenger aircraft in its history. Swiss airline Helvetic made the special landing with its Embraer E195-E2.
Flight LX456 departed from Zurich with passengers enjoying coffee and croissants, and landed around noon in London. The aircraft, registration HB-AZI, flew between London’s iconic skyscrapers and over the River Thames, touching down precisely at 12:00 PM local time. With a length of 41.5 meters, the Embraer E195-E2 is now the largest commercial aircraft ever to land at LCY.
That the flight was special, was visible in the presence of key figures from the Helvetic-brand on board. Among the first-class passengers were Tobias Pogorevc, the director of Helvetic, Leonardo de Luca, the chairman of the board, and Martin Ebner, the airline’s owner.
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A Helvetic Airways acaba de pousar com o jato Embraer E195-E2 em London City, marcando o início dos voos comerciais da aeronave no local e se tornando o maior avião a operar regularmente nesta desafiador aeroporto londrino pic.twitter.com/mZYlfVXDyB
The largest
London City Airport is known for its steep approach and relatively short runway of 1508 meters. The airport only received approval for the E195-E2 two years ago. Other aircraft that land at the airport include smaller Embraer models, Airbus A220-100s, A318s, and private jets. LCY is currently working on approval for the Airbus A320neo.
Despite the already two year old approval of the model, Helvetic is the first airline to deploy the E195-E2 to London City Airport. The aircraft featured a special sticker that read “E195-E2, Largest Aircraft in LCY,” an initiative by Helvetic’s maintenance team.
The E195-E2 will remain the largest aircraft to land at LCY for the time being. So, even if the Airbus A320neo is approved, the model still will not gain the title. As, the model is shorter than the Embraer at 37.6 meters in length. Helvetic Director Pogorevc has indicated an openness to charter flights from LCY. As, with a capacity of 134 seats, the aircraft is attractive to tour operators and charter brokers, Pogorevc said.