Cobham Aviation acquire first Embraer E190

2 September 2014 (Updated 9 September 2014)

Cobham Aviation has acquired its first Embraer E190, which will reportedly be used on FIFO (Fly-In, Fly-Out) charter flights for Chevron with workers to and from the Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island, off the north west coast of Western Australia.

This service is said to be quite demanding for the current BAE Systems Avro RJ100 aircraft used by Cobham, as the cost of fuel at Barrow Island is high, so they prefer to take sufficient fuel for the round trip. The RJ100s have to depart Perth with full tanks and a passenger load, flying 1,261 kilometres to Barrow Island to deliver the workers. Without refuelling, they collect another load of passengers, and return to Perth.

The Embraer E190 which Cobham have acquired was built in 2010 and formerly operated by the Munich-based German airline, Augsberg Airways as D-AEMG (MSN 19000404). It has been repainted at Maastricht (Netherlands) in a new white and light blue Cobham Aviation livery, and will become VH-NJA.

Cobham’s current fleet consists of five BAE RJ-100s, three BAE 146-100s, two BAE 146-200s, five BAE 146-300 and various BAe 146 aircraft. Cobham also operates 18 Boeing 717-200 aircraft on behalf of QantasLink. Its subsidiary Surveillance Australia operates a large fleet of Dash 8 aircraft on behalf of Australian Customs on border protection and rescue duties.