During a ceremony in the Coordenação de Aviação (CAV – Aviation Co-ordination) hangar at Brasilia International Airport on December 8, the first of two Embraer E175s (ERJ170-200STDs) for Brazil’s Departmento de Policia Federal (DPF – Federal Police Department) was handed over. The aircraft will shortly begin operating in the country with the DPF’s Comando de Aviação Operacional (Operational Aviation Command), while the second E175 is expected to join it in 2022.
Both aircraft are second-hand, having previously been operated by UK airline Flybe, which had taken delivery of them, new, from Embraer in April/May 2012. They became available after Flybe ceased operations on March 3, 2020. The first to be delivered is currently registered as 2-RLBZ (c/n 17000341, ex G-FBJF) and initially had DPF registration PS-CAV allocated but this has not been taken up and it will now instead become PS-DPF. After being initially stored in the UK at Exeter Airport, Devon, after Flybe stopped flying, it was ferried to Alverca, Portugal, on August 21, 2020, initially for further storage.
As it is an aircraft that was previously operated commercially before being handed over to the DPF, the E175 went through numerous adjustments at OGMA, an Embraer Group company based at Alverca. Whilst there, the aircraft had all maintenance work carried out that was required for it to resume operations and comply with Brazil's operational requirements. It was also repainted there before delivery. On December 5 it departed from Alverca, making technical stops at Sal in Cape Verde and Natal in Rio Grande do Norte state in northeast Brazil before arriving at Brasilia.
The second aircraft will be 2-RLBY (c/n 17000336, ex G-FBJE), which was allocated PS-DPF, but will presumably take up a different registration now that those markings have been taken by the first aircraft. After initially being stored in the UK at Birmingham Airport following the demise of Flybe, it was also flown to Alverca on July 16, 2020. It is also now being prepared for the DPF by OGMA.
The Director-General of the DPF, Paulo Gustavo Maiurino, said: “The introduction of the E175, a modern and efficient jet, will further expand the scope of our main missions, such as deploying agents to fight organized crime operations, transferring detainees, moving equipment and cargo.” The partnership between Embraer and the DPF spans more than 15 years, since the entry into operation of two ERJ 145 jets in 2006, both of which are still in DPF service.
As well as current aircraft, the E175 will also be able to support other security forces in the country, being an asset that boosts not only DPF operations but those for the entire sphere of public security under the Federal Government. Jackson Schneider, President and CEO of Embraer Defense and Security, said: “We are proud that the Federal Police has chosen to operate the E175 jet, which will be the largest aircraft in the country used for public security, adding capacity in the transport of passengers and cargo, in addition to increasing flight range, which expands the number of missions the Federal Police can perform.”
