Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, announced the sale of three executive jets to United Aviation, company from Kuwait that operates luxury air charter services.
According to information from the Brazilian company, orders were made for one Phenom 100, one Phenom 300 and one Legacy 600. With this contract, the number of orders for executive aircrafts Embraer has received from the Middle East increases to 10, of which five have already been delivered.
According to Embraer, the Legacy should be delivered in October this year. United Aviation already has two airplanes of this model, which they received in 2004. The two Phenom, new model of the Brazilian industry for executive aviation, should be delivered between 2008 and 2010. The Kuwaiti company will launch the new models in the region.
The Legacy has capacity for taking up to 16 passengers, the Phenom 100 for four and the Phenom 300 for six people. "The Phenom 100 and the Phenom 300 represent a natural choice to complete our current fleet and are part of an expansion strategy in the Middle East," said the president of United Aviation, Abdul Salam Al Bahar, according to a statement released by Embraer.
According to him, the company started working in the field of luxury flights using the two Legacy they already own.
The vice-president for the executive aviation market at Embraer, Luís Carlos Affonso, said in a recent interview that the company considers the Middle East one of the main markets in the world for the sector.
In May the company sold two Legacy in the region, one for the president of the bank Fransabank, the Lebanese Adnan Kassar, and another to Celtel International, subsidiary of the Kuwaiti MTC in Africa. Kassar is also president of General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of the Arab Countries, of which the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is a member.
Embraer did not disclose the value of the contract, but the stated price of the Legacy 600 is of US$ 24.5 million, the Phenom 100 costs US$ 2.75 million and the Phenom 300 costs US$ 6.65 million. The first units of the Phenom 100 are to get to the market mid 2008 and the Phenom 300 one year later.
United Aviation, which also operates helicopters, belongs to Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO), a holding company that has business in many other areas, like finances, insurance, telecommunications, real estate, food products and industry. According to information from the site Ame Info, specialized in economics in the Arab world, the group manages assets of US$ 15 billion, employs 12,000 people around the world and had a profit of US$ 130 million last year.
Anba – www.anba.com.br