EMBRAER 120(EMB 120): THE BRIDE OF NIGERIAN TURBOPROP OPERATORS.

(article written July 2007)

Recently some domestic airlines crossed the re-capitalization Rubicon. A cursory look at the list show that five of these airlines use turboprops for scheduled-short sector flights, with three of them using the EMB 120. The airlines are:

Airlines Type of Aircraft Number Leased/Owned Route
Capital Airline EMB 120 4 Owned Lagos-Benin; Abuja- Benin/Enugu/Makurdi
Associated Airlines EMB 120 2 Owned Lagos-Benin
Wings Aviation EMB 120 2 Leased Abuja-Enugu
Aero Contractors DASH 8 7 Owned Escravos-Warri, Lagos- Benin/Warri/Accra/Sao-tome/PHC (military airport)
Overland Airways Beech 1900 3 Owned Abuja-Ibadan/Akure/Ilorin/Calabar

The EMB 120 is a 30-seat, pressurized twin-turboprop featuring high cruise speed and low operating costs. The cockpit features Electronic Flight instruments. Its roomy cabin can seat up to 30 passengers. Embraer first began design work on a new regional turboprop airliner in the late 1970s when the company studied stretching its EMB121 Xingu corporate turboprop to a 25 seat regional airliner. This was the first aircraft to bear the EMB120 designation (it was named the Araguia). Design studies of the definitive EMB120 began in September 1979, first flight of a Pratt Whitney (PW) 115 powered prototype took place on July 27 1983, and entry into service was in October 1985.


Versions of the EMB120 include: the initial production EMB120; the Reduced Takeoff weight EMB120RT; the Extended Range EMB120ER; the EMB120 Cargo freighter; mixed passenger/freight EMB120 Combi; and EMB120 Convertible. Hot and high versions of these models have PW118A engines, which retain their power ratings to a higher altitude.


The current production model is the EMB120ER Advanced, which incorporates a range of external and interior improvements. The fuselage of the EMB120 also forms the basis for the ERJ145, a 50 seat regional jet.

The EMB 120RT has a range of 1020km (550nm) with PW118s, or 926km (500nm) with PW118As while EMB 120ER has 1556km (840nm) with PW118s, or 1500km (810nm) with PW118A, all with maximum passengers and reserves. The engines are two 1340kW (1800shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PW118 or PW118A turboprops driving four blade Standard propellers.

Turboprops are aircrafts whose engine is gas turbine. The engine power is used to drive a propeller, and the propellers used are very similar to the propellers used in piston or reciprocating engine-driven aircraft (with the exception that turboprops usually use a constant velocity propeller).

Turboprops are very efficient at modest flight speeds (below 450 mph), because the jet velocity of the propeller (and exhaust) is relatively low.

Turboprops have proven themselves to be a workhorse for aviation. They generally have better fuel economy for short-range flights than a comparable sized jet but they average about 100 knots less airspeed. They tend to have a higher noise level inside the cabin than a comparable jet.

EMB 120 turboprop aircraft is not the only turboprop in the 25-35 seat bracket, we have the 30-seat British Aerospace Jet stream 41, 34-seat Saab 340, 27 seat Antonov-38-100 and 27 seat Yak-40.The best selling turboprop in this class is the now rested Saab 340 which is followed by our local bride (EMB 120). Also within the Embraer family the EMB110 Bandeirante, or `Bandit', remains Embraer's most successful commercial aircraft program.

Although no EMB 120 have been produced since 2002, it is still available to order. it is made on the same assembly line as the Embraer Regional Jet (ERJ) and is made out of many of the same parts. The extinction of commercial turboprops during the late 1990s and the first few years of the current decade were caused by an influx of regional jets. The EMB 120 was a victim of this as well. Only the ability to be built on a regional jet line has saved it from following out-of-production aircraft like the Do 328, Saab 340 e.t.c. As the aircraft is still officially "in production," it is possible that the recent resurgence of turboprops may result in additional orders for the EMB 120.

How they got to Nigeria? Capital Airline introduced the EMB 120 to Nigerian scheduled operations in 2003 and today has four variants of the aircraft. The Commercial Manager of Capital Airlines then, who has a niche with turboprop operations, Mr. Edmond Young was instrumental to the decision of bringing the aircraft to a virgin terrain. It was a great risk he took convincing his management that such aircraft would survive in Nigeria. Quoting him “my vision was to help Nigerians who were itching to fly the short sector, by doing uncommon things commonly. My critiques at then the CEOs of Associated and Wings airline are today operating EMB 120 in Nigeria”.

Within the Embraer turboprop family the EMB 120 is next to the popular and better selling EMB 110(Bandit), but it has been a success in Nigeria and if my contacts are right IRS Airline a strong player in the northern part of Nigeria, has just acquired an Embraer regional aircraft.

It is also a fact that, in the regional aircraft family, the jets (ERJ, CRJ, and RRJ) have surpassed turboprops in sales, for the 35 to 100-seat category, leading to non-production of turbo props in this category. But for the 30 seat and below the turboprops still hold sway as sales of regional jet for this category is poor, except in the USA where turboprops are fast running out of operations due to jet phenomenon which makes marketing turboprops very difficult.

In affirming this position, let me quote the past president of Saab Aircraft Leasing- Michael Magnusson, “the operating cost difference between 30 seat regional and 50-seat regional jets is marginal, but with 20 extra passengers the latter offers a much more attractive seat kilometer cost. Our research shows that on a 320km (200 miles) route, which is a bread-and-butter for turboprops, the regional jet cost 30% more to fly”.
This forces airlines to deploy jets on longer sector while the turboprops are left on short sectors.

The last rites have been read over the turboprops several times since emergence of the regional jet in the early 1990s.but each time, the ministrations have proved to be premature and the patient recovers. This is can be attested to by its economic benefit over the short distances and its fuel efficiency. It also offers the best economics and a high level of comfort as well as performance in certain difficult operating environment, but loses to the jets in terms of block time on longer higher capacity routes.
Also the declining yields i.e. cost/revenue presently enveloping the industry have made the 19 seat turboprops markets disappear that is putting pressure on the 30 seat markets.

Turboprops (EMB120 inclusive) has it drawback, many air passengers are not satisfied with propeller aircrafts, for a number of reasons. Propeller aircrafts are slower than jets, and they typically do not have air conditioning available during enplaning and deplaning operations. In most cases they cannot be connected to a jet way, have significantly reduced cabin size, Seating on regional airliners tends to be narrow and tight, and passengers typically are restricted from bringing on board carry-on items which would fit without difficulty in the overhead bins of larger aircraft.

Finally, domestic airlines who are interested in getting the EMB 120, they should just head straight to Delta Airlines’ regional subsidiaries, which are now changing from turboprops to Jets. For those interested in converting the passenger variant to cargo, Worldwide Aircraft Services, based in Missouri, USA is their best bet. The cargo variant can carry a maximum payload of 4,056kg (9,013lb).for maintenance and leasing of the E120 within Africa, South Africa is heads and shoulder above the rest. I say to the new bride, enjoy your marriage with Nigerian operators while it lasts!!!