Embraer has started the parts production process for the second variant of its new E2 line of narrowbodies, the E195-E2, the company announced Tuesday. Workers have fabricated the lateral rib of the stub on the E195-E2 prototype’s central fuselage II section. Made of aeronautical aluminum, the structure took shape at one of the Embraer’s high-speed machining centers in São José dos Campos, Brazil.

“Just as the roll out and the maiden flight are milestones in any aeronautical program, so is the first metal cut,” said Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO Paulo Cesar Silva. “And it is no different with Embraer. It’s the moment when the aircraft begins to take shape, validating the thousands of hours of engineering development and the virtual drawings made in computers.”

The milestone comes roughly a month before the expected rollout of the 106-seat E190-E2, assembly of which Embraer finished in December. The company expects to fly that model by the second half of this year, possibly as early as July.

Meawhile, plans call for the E195-E2 fly next year, in time for scheduled first deliveries in the first of 2019.

While the E190-E2’s design calls for the same fuselage length now used in the current version of the E195, the E195-E2 will carry three more rows of seats, increasing standard two-class capacity from 108 to 120. Its 2,000 nm range will allow the aircraft to fly from Bangkok to virtually any point in Southeast Asia or virtually the whole African continent from Nairobi and all of South America from Brasilia.