People's sends only aircraft for maintenance, Helvetic Airways steps in

People's Airline will send its only aircraft, an Embraer E170, to Düsseldorf for extensive maintenance at the end of October. The Austrian regional carrier will be left without its own equipment. To keep its sole year-round service between Altenrhein and Vienna running, People's has arranged for Helvetic Airways to operate the route from October 27 with a larger Embraer E190.

The E190 seats 112 passengers, against 76 on the E170. Weight restrictions at St. Gallen-Altenrhein mean the larger jet cannot be flown at full payload on the sector.

The 15-year-old E170, registration OE-LMK, will undergo a major inspection focused on the landing gear and airframe structure, according to People's managing director Thomas Krutzler. He described the scheduled work as limited in scope but said the grounding could be extended if the checks uncover additional repairs. How long the aircraft will remain out of service is not yet clear.

People's had previously evaluated the Embraer E2 family on its own. An E190-E2 visited Altenrhein in autumn 2018 as part of the airline's assessment of the newer model.