The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer announced today, September 5, the sales of 50 executive jets Phenom 100 to Magnum Jet, company from Houston, Texas.
The value of the contract is of US$ 137.5 million, according to the Brazilian company, but may reach US$ 275 million, in case Magnum converts another 50 purchase options it made. The deliveries of the planes will start in the beginning of 2009.
The jet Phenom was launched last year by Embraer and should start its operations around 2008. The airplane, directed to the aerial taxi service, has the capacity for taking four people. The company already received 235 orders for the models Phenom 100 and Phenom 300.
On August 30, Embraer announced the sale of 50 ERJ 145s and 50 EMBRAER 190s to HNA Group, the fourth largest airline company in China. The deal marks the first contract involving an E-Jet in mainland China. The total value of the firm aircraft at list price is US$ 2.7 billion.
Deliveries will commence in September 2007 for the ERJ 145s. The 50-seat ERJ 145s will be produced by the joint venture Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry (HEAI), in the city of Harbin, in Heilongjiang Province.
For the EMBRAER 190, deliveries are planned to start in December 2007. The 106-seat EMBRAER 190, to be configured for single class service, will be manufactured at the plant of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.
"We are delighted to make public this deal which confirms the correctness of our vision and Embraer’s long-term strategy to become an important player in the Chinese market. The 50 ERJ 145s will help HNA Group build a strong regional aviation network – a solid foundation for its growth plans.
"At the same time, the debut of the EMBRAER 190 in mainland China is perfect for HNA Group’s expansion plans for medium density markets as well as high frequency city-pairs, given the size, excellent performance, passenger comfort and economics of our E-Jets," said Maurício Botelho, Embraer Chairman, President and CEO.
"China and Brazil have joined forces and successfully produced the world-class ERJ 145 family jet aircraft for the Chinese market. The awarding of the order of 50 ERJ 145s by HNA Group will further secure the future success of the joint venture which, in turn, will strengthen the cooperation between China and Brazil in the aviation field.
"In addition, the deal will push forward the booming of both the regional jet manufacturing business and the regional air transportation market in China," said Mr. Zhang Hongbiao, President of China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II), Embraer’s partner in the HEAI joint venture.
The introduction of the ERJ 145 and the EMBRAER 190 will help improve the current domestic route network by deploying such a mixed fleet on thin routes or to open new market. This will benefit the economic development of small/medium cities in the West and Northeast regions.
"HNA Group is operating the biggest fleet of regional jets in China," said Mr. Chen Feng, Chairman of HNA Group. "The acquisition of ERJ 145s and EMBRAER 190s represents an important validation of our strategy of providing more flexible flights to match the rapidly increasing demand of the domestic market in China."
As of June 30, 2006, Embraer had delivered 163 E-Jets to customers in Canada, the United States, Ecuador, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Poland, Italy, Germany, India and Hong Kong. Also, Embraer delivered 858 ERJ 145 commercial aircraft worldwide.
Both families of Embraer commercial aircraft – the E-Jets and the ERJ 145 – are currently flying with more than 70 airlines in 43 countries around the world.