Bermudian businesses that rely on air freight have long faced an awkward reality: because no dedicated cargo aircraft operates on their routes, every time-sensitive shipment either rides in the belly of a passenger jet or gets routed through a major hub like Miami or New York JFK before finding its way home. On September 16, Bermuda’s own carrier took a step toward changing that. BermudAir announced it will add a leased Embraer E190F freighter aircraft to its fleet, making it the first operator of the type in the Americas and only the second in the world.

The E190F is not a new aircraft in the conventional sense. It is an Embraer E190 regional jet — a type that entered passenger service in 2004, powered two decades of regional flying across North America and Europe, and is now cycling into its next commercial life. Embraer launched its passenger-to-freighter conversion program in March 2022, targeting a specific and underserved gap in the freighter market between large cargo turboprops and the full-sized narrowbody freighters like the Boeing 737F. The first converted aircraft did not enter commercial service until March 2026, when Malta-based Bridges Air Cargo flew its inaugural freight mission from Cologne, Germany to Larnaca, Cyprus. Until September 16, Bridges was the only airline on Earth operating one.

Now BermudAir is set to join it — in a different ocean, on different routes, serving a different kind of cargo problem entirely.

Why Island Economies Cannot Solve Cargo the Way Continents Do

Bermuda has no ports accessible by road. There is no rail line, no highway connecting it to the US East Coast 1,070 miles (1,722 km) to the west. Every pharmaceutical shipment, every electronics order, every e-commerce parcel that arrives in Bermuda comes either by sea or by air. For time-sensitive cargo — the kind that spoils, the kind hospitals need, the kind a business cannot wait two weeks for — air is the only answer.

The Caribbean more broadly has the same structural problem at a regional scale. Island economies across the region have historically been served by belly cargo on passenger jets, which is constrained by passenger schedules and available hold space, or by routing through hub airports where dedicated cargo networks already exist. A shipper in Nassau moving express cargo to Bermuda may find it faster — but more expensive and slower than expected — to route it through Miami International and onto a connecting passenger flight than to move it directly.

The E190F was designed for exactly this situation. It occupies the payload-range sweet spot for thin-route, high-frequency operations: a maximum structural payload of 13,500 kilograms (29,762 pounds) and a cargo volume of approximately 103 cubic meters (3,630 cubic feet) across its combined main and lower decks. At maximum volumetric load — when the aircraft is carrying lighter, bulkier goods — it can fly up to 2,590 nautical miles (4,798 km; 2,981 miles), which covers virtually every Caribbean-to-US-East-Coast route in a single sector. At maximum structural payload — when carrying heavier, denser cargo — the operational range is 2,010 nautical miles (3,723 km; 2,313 miles), still sufficient for the region’s longest routes.

That combination puts it well above what turboprops can manage, and well below the costs that make operating a 737F viable on a route carrying only a fraction of the larger aircraft’s capacity. According to Embraer, the E190F provides 40 percent more cargo volume than large turboprops, three times their range, and up to 30 percent lower operating costs compared to larger narrowbody freighters — cost savings that only materialize when the route cannot fill a 737F to begin with.

How an Airliner Becomes a Freighter: The P2F Engineering Process

The conversion from passenger jet to dedicated freighter is a major structural program requiring a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from aviation regulators — not a cosmetic refit or a change in configuration. The STC process verifies that all structural modifications meet airworthiness standards before the aircraft can carry commercial cargo.

Embraer performs the conversions at its facility in São José dos Campos, Brazil, the same campus where E190s were originally manufactured. The program involves more than 600 employees and a global network of over 40 suppliers. The process involves several irreversible structural modifications:

The main-deck floor is removed and replaced with a reinforced cargo floor capable of sustaining pallet and container loads that far exceed the distributed loads of passenger seats. A large cargo door is cut into the forward fuselage: a reinforced opening fitted with seals and structural doublers to maintain the aircraft’s pressure envelope and airworthiness. A 9G rigid cargo barrier separates the cockpit from the cargo compartment, meeting the structural safety standard required for main-deck freight. Roller-track floor systems and cargo restraint hardware are installed throughout the main deck. The aircraft is additionally fitted with upgraded smoke detection systems in the cargo hold and fire safety provisions for hazardous materials.

When fully converted, the E190F accommodates up to six standard unit load devices (ULDs) on its main deck, plus one narrower ULD and one LD3-class container — the same ULD format used by major integrators including FedEx and UPS, which means BermudAir’s operation slots directly into existing cargo handling infrastructure at airports it already serves.

Powering the conversion throughout its second life is the same engine that powered it as a passenger jet: the General Electric CF34-10E turbofan, rated at 82.3 kilonewtons (18,500 pounds-force) of thrust. This matters commercially. With more than 1,700 E-Jets already delivered globally, the CF34-10E has one of the most mature maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) networks of any regional jet engine. A new operator choosing the E190F inherits that serviceability infrastructure on day one — reducing the maintenance risk that typically shadows unproven aircraft types in their early commercial deployments.

The E190F earned certification from Brazil’s ANAC, then the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in October 2024, and finally the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in February 2025. FAA certification is the operative standard for BermudAir, which is based in a British Overseas Territory but operates primarily into US airspace.

BermudAir: Three Years Old, Five Aircraft, Two Continents of Firsts

BermudAir’s timeline compresses an unusually dense growth story into three years. Adam Scott, a former investment banker who had previously attempted a transatlantic business-class venture, founded the carrier in May 2023 and launched commercial service on August 31 of that year — the first locally established Bermudian airline in history. The airline initially flew two Embraer E175s in a premium configuration on three East Coast routes: Boston, Fort Lauderdale, and Westchester County, New York.

Since then, BermudAir has grown to four aircraft — two E175s and two E190s — serving 10 destinations across the US East Coast, Canada, and the Caribbean. In December 2025, it launched AnguillAir, a sub-brand operating seasonal service from Anguilla to Baltimore, Boston, and Newark. At the Farnborough Airshow in July 2026, Scott announced a 10-aircraft order for Airbus A220-300s with deliveries beginning in the fourth quarter of 2027 — the carrier’s first order with a European planemaker and a signal of its mainline ambitions.

The E190F is now its fifth aircraft and its first without a passenger seat on board.

“Cargo is a natural next step for us,” Scott said in the September 16 announcement. “We’ve built a reliable, right-sized operation connecting Bermuda and the Caribbean to North America, and the E190F lets us put that same network to work moving express cargo, supporting local businesses, e-commerce and time-sensitive freight across the islands we serve.”

The aircraft is leased from Regional One, a Miami, Florida-based aviation lessor that placed five firm orders for E190F conversions since the program launched. Two of those aircraft are already in service with Bridges; BermudAir’s will become the third to enter active commercial operation. Two Regional One orders remain unplaced.

Bridges Air Cargo: What the Trailblazer Proved

Before BermudAir can demonstrate the E190F’s Caribbean case, Bridges Air Cargo has already demonstrated something more fundamental: that the aircraft actually works in commercial service.

Bridges Worldwide is a 35-year-old Malta-based logistics operator with established networks supporting FedEx, DHL, and UPS. Named as the E190F’s launch customer at the Paris Air Show in June 2025, Bridges took delivery of its first converted aircraft in August 2025 and flew its inaugural revenue flight on March 9, 2026, connecting Cologne, Germany to Larnaca, Cyprus with a load of time-sensitive express shipments. A second E190F followed in June 2026, completing Bridges’ initial two-aircraft order and extending its route map across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Both Bridges aircraft were also leased through Regional One, giving the US lessor the distinction of having placed the first three E190Fs in commercial operation on two separate continents within 12 months.

George Mamangakis, Regional One’s Chief Investment Officer, described BermudAir as an “excellent partner to help showcase the versatility and value of the E-Freighter platform,” calling the deal “another important step in the continued growth of the E190 P2F program.”

Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, framed it in market terms: “BermudAir’s selection of the E190F marks an important milestone for the E-Freighter programme as the aircraft enters service in North America and the Caribbean for the first time.”

What Does the Market Say About Right-Sized Regional Freighters?

The E190F’s commercial logic maps onto a structural shift that IATA has been tracking throughout 2026. According to IATA’s Head of E-commerce and Cargo Operations, Andre Majeres, global air cargo volumes are expected to reach 71.6 million tonnes in 2026 — up 2.4 percent from 2025 — with cargo revenues rising 2.1 percent to $158 billion. E-commerce is expected to account for 30 percent of total air cargo volume by 2027, up from roughly 20 percent today.

The growth driver is structural, not cyclical: e-commerce shippers do not want consolidated bulk shipments routed through central hubs on three-day cycles. They want small, frequent deliveries to secondary and tertiary markets — the economic geography that small island economies have inhabited since before e-commerce existed.

Large freighters fail this test by design. A Boeing 737-800BCF carries more than twice the E190F’s payload, but on a route between Bermuda and Boston that cannot fill a 737F to even 50-percent payload efficiency, the unit economics collapse. Turboprops like the ATR 72-600F offer better economics on very short hops, but their range — roughly one-third that of the E190F at maximum volumetric load — and their lower payload capacity make them insufficient for regional networks spanning the full Caribbean.

The E190F was engineered to sit in that gap deliberately. Embraer forecasts a market for approximately 700 E-Jets converted to freighters over the next 20 years. Three aircraft — two with Bridges, one with BermudAir pending approval — are in or entering service as of September 2026. The forecast and the reality are still far apart. But the Americas market — with its island economies, its e-commerce growth, and its thin-route regional geography — is exactly the territory the forecast is built on.

How Does BermudAir’s E190F Operation Work?

The E190F will operate as a dedicated freighter alongside BermudAir’s existing passenger fleet, targeting express cargo, e-commerce shipments, and time-sensitive freight between Bermuda, the wider Caribbean, and North American gateways. This is a parallel capability, not a replacement for belly cargo on its passenger jets — both revenue streams can coexist on the same routes.

The airline has not disclosed a target entry-into-service date beyond noting that the operation remains subject to regulatory review and approval. The E190F already holds FAA certification, which is the primary regulatory standard for BermudAir’s US operations. The practical timing of approvals will depend on the scope of the certification process required for BermudAir’s specific air operator certificate amendment.

What Comes After BermudAir?

Embraer has not disclosed which operators, if any, are in talks for the two remaining unplaced Regional One E190F conversions. The lessor has stated it expects to continue expanding the program’s global operator base. Separately, Azorra, an aircraft leasing company, signed a deal for up to 30 E-Freighter conversions — a pipeline that, if fully activated, would significantly accelerate the type’s deployment across multiple operators.

Embraer has deferred the larger E195F variant, choosing to concentrate engineering and certification resources on the E190F first. The E195F, when developed, would offer a maximum structural payload of 14,300 kilograms (31,531 pounds) — roughly 6 percent more than the E190F — targeting slightly larger regional cargo markets.

For now, the E190F’s operational footprint consists of three aircraft across two continents and two operators. Whether that footprint expands into the right-sized regional cargo network Embraer forecasts will depend on whether carriers like BermudAir can demonstrate that island economies are, in fact, the proving ground the program needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Embraer E190F and how is it different from a standard freighter?

The E190F is an Embraer E190 regional passenger jet converted into a dedicated cargo aircraft through a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) program. Unlike a purpose-built freighter, it starts as a retired passenger jet and undergoes major structural changes: the main-deck floor is reinforced, a large cargo door is cut into the forward fuselage, a 9G rigid cargo barrier is installed between the cockpit and cargo hold, and a roller-track loading system accommodates standard ULD containers. It retains the original GE CF34-10E turbofan engines and benefits from the mature MRO network supporting over 1,700 E-Jets already in service worldwide. The result is a freighter positioned between turboprops and full narrowbody freighters in both payload capacity and operating cost.

How does the E190F help Caribbean businesses, and why couldn’t they get dedicated cargo service before?

Island economies in the Caribbean have historically depended on belly cargo space in passenger aircraft or on routing time-sensitive freight through congested major hubs like Miami or New York. Dedicated narrowbody freighters like the Boeing 737F are too large to be economically viable on thin Caribbean routes — their unit costs only make sense when you can fill them. Turboprops can serve very short hops cheaply, but they lack the range and payload for the Caribbean-to-US-East-Coast routes where most trade flows. The E190F fills the gap: 13,500 kilograms (29,762 pounds) of payload, up to 2,590 nautical miles of range, and 30 percent lower operating costs than larger narrowbodies, all on an aircraft sized to operate economically on thinner routes. BermudAir’s established passenger network to North American gateways gives its cargo operation a ready-made route structure to build on.

What airlines currently operate the Embraer E190F?

As of September 2026, Bridges Air Cargo — a Malta-based logistics operator with networks supporting FedEx, DHL, and UPS — is the only airline flying the type in commercial service, with two aircraft operating across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. BermudAir has announced it will become the second global operator and the first in the Americas, pending regulatory approval. Both airlines lease their aircraft from Regional One, a Miami, Florida-based aviation lessor that has placed five firm orders for E190F conversions in total.

Why did the E190F take so long to reach commercial service after Embraer launched the program?

Embraer launched the E-Freighter conversion program in March 2022, but the first revenue flight did not occur until March 2026 — a four-year gap. The conversion process involved developing and certifying new structural modifications, cargo systems, and safety provisions across three regulatory jurisdictions: Brazil’s ANAC, the FAA, and EASA. Full FAA certification was granted in October 2024 and EASA certification followed in February 2025. The conversion work itself required over 600 employees and more than 40 global suppliers. One converted aircraft spent more than two years at Embraer’s São José dos Campos facility during the modification and certification process — a timeline that reflects the engineering complexity of re-engineering a pressurized passenger aircraft into a safe, commercially viable freighter.