Embraer, which formally launched its Executive Jets division a decade ago, is preparing to celebrate the delivery of its 1,000th business jet. Fernando Grau, director of marketing and product strategy for Embraer Executive Jets (Chalet 7), said the delivery is “imminent,” although he did not disclose exact date or which model will mark the milestone.
The celebration, however, is noteworthy for the Brazilian manufacturer, which he said in a short time has gone from “a non-player to a significant player” in the business jet market. The company celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Executive Jets unit during the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas in November.
Embraer entered the business aviation market when it launched the Legacy, a derivative of the ERJ-135 airliner, in 2000 at the Farnborough Airshow. Its business jet division formed in May 2005 with a vision of having an aircraft in every major business jet niche.
The company since has fulfilled that vision with seven aircraft models in service, beginning with the Phenom 100 light jet ranging to the Legacy 1000E bizliner, Grau said. It now has 975 executive jets in service in more than 60 countries. The Phenoms comprise the largest share of the deliveries, at 650. This comes as Embraer has claimed the Phenom 300 as the most delivered business jet over the last three years. Embraer also has delivered 300 Legacy jets and 25 Lineages.
