Houston-based ExpressJet became the first airline to operate a scheduled flight with Embraer’s extended-range ERJ-145XR on November 1, when the Continental Airlines affiliate launched nonstop service from Newark (N.J.) International Airport to Oklahoma City and Omaha, Neb., and from Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport to Richmond, Va. The new flights originating from Newark continued a Midwest expansion that began in July with the opening of a Continental Express station in Des Moines, Iowa. The flights between Richmond and Houston restored nonstop service suspended as a result of traffic declines following 9/11.
The worldwide launch customer for the 1,350-nm-range jet, ExpressJet took delivery of its first eight ERJ-145XRs in October. By the end of the year the airline plans to have 18 of the new airplanes on its property, by which time it expects to retire the last of its eight remaining ATR 42s, giving it an all-turbofan-powered fleet composed of 188 ERJ-135s, -145LRs and -145XRs.
