Aircraft 9H-REY for Maltese carrier Maleth-Aero and CS-TPJ for Portugese regional carrier Portugalia and former Midlands carrier Flybmi, this Embraer ERJ-145 (a regional jet that carries 50 passengers) was first delivered to Portugalia in December 1997 after having been produced at Embraer’s main production site, Sao Jose Dos Campos in the Brazilian State of Sao Paolo. The aircraft was named Chapim after a widely-spread bird species. At the time of its delivery, Portugalia operated a fleet of 6 Fokker F100s, 3 Embraer ERJ-145s and 1 British BAe ATP. In June 2003 it was briefly leased to East Leicestershire-based Flybmi (which ceased operations last year), the subsidiary of British Midland International, which was integrated into British Airways in 2012. Flybmi operated a fleet of 6 Embraer ERJ-135s and 20 Embraer ERJ-145s (including CS-TPJ) in its 26 year history. After it ceased operations, many of Flybmi’s Embraer ERJs went to Scottish airline Loganair. CS-TPJ was leased back to Portugalia in March 2004. It was withdrawn from use in May 2016 and was stored at Alverca Airport in Portugal. In November 2017 it was delivered to Maltese carrier Maleth-Aero. Maleth-Aero operates a fleet of 3 Airbus A340s, 2 Boeing 737-300s, 1 Airbus A330 and 9H-REY. It is awaiting another Airbus A340 on a re-lease from European Aviation. Portugalia now operates a fleet of 9 Embraer E-190s and 4 Embraer E-195s. 9H-REY is currently 23 years old. 8th of November 2020.
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