Fleet news is not always interesting to read, but when an airline invests in dozens of the new aircraft that directly influence the passenger experience on the daily routes, it is worth listening. Finnair has recently made one of its biggest fleet investments in years with an order of up to 46 Embraer E195-E2 jets that will transform the way the Finnish airline will serve its domestic route network in the future beginning in 2027.

This is not a one to one substitution. It is an extra comfort upgrade to passengers, fuel efficiency, and network capacity, and at the same time, it could not be timed better by anyone who has to travel shorter routes in and out of Finland on a regular basis.

What Finnair ordered in Consideration

The deal is subdivided into 18 firm orders which are 16 options and 12 purchase rights that will provide flexibility to Finnair in scaling the order up and down as the network unfolds. The first E195-E2 is scheduled to enter the fleet in the third quarter of 2027 and three more aircraft will be added to the fleet in the same year as well as another three in 2028 and three in 2029 on the delivery side.

Finnair will design the interior of every plane with 134 seats in its considerate design where the full potential of the E195-E2 is maximized in passenger perspective. The 2-2 seat arrangement is provided in the whole cabin of the plane that is why the plane does not have any middle seats. That difference is significant to any individual who has been on regional jets packed in tight, 2-3 seating arrangements on a 90 minute flight.

USB charging will be provided on each seat also, and the plane will have high-speed Wi-Fi two facilities that seem to be a norm in long-distance flying but anything but certainty on shorter routes across Europe.

Why the E195-E2 Is a Smart Choice

Embraer E195-E2 is the largest and most competent aircraft in the current E-jet family of iambrazilian manufacturer Embraer. Having a range of up to 2,600 nautical miles and carrying a range of 120-146 passengers in the different configurations it can carry, it occupies a truly handy sweet spot large enough to serve a busy regional network, yet small enough to operate into smaller airports that could not handle narrowbody mainline jets.

The E195-E2, in comparison to the older E190s, which has been in operation in the Finnair region network, has a higher fuel efficiency of over 30 percent per-passenger. It is a massive improvement in terms of environmental and operational aspects, and it also fits the climate targets that the airline claims to have.

The order was positioned by the CEO of Finnair as being in simple terms as Finnair CEO Turkka Kuusisto described the order as positioning the airline to provide a stronger regional network, and enhancing reliability and reducing its carbon footprint. He also singled out the contribution of the E195- E2 to popularize the Finnair long-haul network to remind that regional connectivity is not merely about domestic comfortability, but it is the key that allows passengers in Finland and beyond to develop intercontinental plans.

These jets are flying in Norra

The E195-E2s will not run under the main Finnair brand directly that they will fly for Norra which is the regional operating partner of Finnair and takes on shorter routes around the network. The fleet of Norra currently has 12 ATR 72-500 turboprops with 68 to 70 seats outfitting, as well as 12 Embraer E190s that are equipped with 100 seats.

The new E195-E2s are mostly in place to take up the place of the E190s, but with Finnair ordering at least 18 aircrafts to replace 12, there is most definitely an element of growth involved in the strategy rather than an out and out replacement. Part of the ATR turboprops can also be replaced by jet equipment eventually as the fleet changes, but Finnair has not indicated that time.

Passengers: The switch to E190 to E195-E2 by the number of seats, fuel economy and the overall onboard experience are all positive, with the no-middle-seat configuration of Embraer regional jets making them more comfortable than many of their competitors.

Embraer Is On a Good Moment in Northern Europe

Finnair is not the only one that bets on the E195-E2 in the regional operations. Recently Scandinavian Airlines also made their own order in the same type of aircrafts, and it is expected that deliveries will be provided too in late 2027 and onwards. Two Scandinavian carriers that commit to the same platform within a narrow time frame is important in itself about the fit of the E195-E2 to the regional flying routes of the North that are frequently too long to be covered by turbo-prop planes yet long enough to waste on full-scale narrowbody aircraft.

This is not so much the case in the United States as the E195-E2 has had a hard time establishing itself. The formation of American mainline and regional carrier agreements especially pilot scope clauses that restrict the size of aircraft regional partners must fly makes the E195-E2 too large to be used by most regional carriers and not quite the appropriate size to fit into major airline fleets. Avelo Airlines has been a recent exception to that trend, its own order of E195-E2 recently, which literally made it an outlier in a market where the type has become mostly forgotten.

What This Implicates on Travelers

This order directly affects your travel experience in case you take regional flights inbound and outbound Helsinki or transit over Finnair network to smaller cities in Finland or other Scandinavian destinations. Newer aircrafts translate to increased reliability, reduced mechanical setbacks, and uniform on board product. The no-middle-seat cabin design is a literal quality-of-life enhancement to the routes that already face passengers crowded in old regional setups. And the built-in USB charging at the seat and high-speed connection seals a loophole of which regular commuters of local destinations are all too familiar.

The first aircrafts will come in mid-2027, with significant fleet presence development in 2028 and 2029. It will not be instantly, but the trend is obvious, and, in the case of Norra passengers, upgrading is a long-overdue process.

The Bottom Line

The 46-order of Embraer E195-E2s by Finnair is a thought-out investment in the future of the regional airline. Having 18 solid orders and delivering started in 2027, Norra is establishing the airline a growth and modernization that will see the replacement of older E190s with a more efficient, more comfortable, and better-equipped successor. The absence of middle seats, USB charging, high-speed Wi-Fi, and 30 percent greater fuel economy is a win-win situation both to the passengers and the environment. Embraer E2 is definitely taking over Northern Europe and the latest step by Finnair can only confirm the trend.