Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer delivered 59 jets to the commercial, executive, and defense and government aviation segments during the fourth quarter of 2008, totaling 204 jets in the year.
For the second consecutive year, the Company set a new aircraft delivery record, delivering 20% more airplanes than in 2007 (169 jets). The last quarter of 2008 was also marked by the delivery of the first two Phenom 100 executive jets. The value of the firm order backlog came to US$ 20.9 billion on December 31, 2008.
During the last three months of 2008, Embraer delivered 44 E-Jets to commercial aviation, eight Legacy 600s, two Phenom 100s, and one Embraer 175 to executive aviation, and four jets to the defense and government segment:
  Deliveries by Segment                   4Q08              2008
 Commercial Aviation                        44               162
     ERJ 145                                 -                 6
     Embraer 170                             5                 9
     Embraer 175                            14                55
     Embraer 190                            20             78 (1)
     Embraer 195                             5                14
 Executive Aviation                         11                36
     Phenom 100                              2                 2
     Legacy 600                              8                33
     Embraer 175                             1                 1
 Defense and Government*                     4                 6
     ERJ 135                                 2                 2
     ERJ 145                                 -                 1
     Legacy 600                              2                 3
 TOTAL                                      59               204
*Includes the delivery of executive jets configured to transport officials and aircraft delivered to state-owned companies. Numbers in parentheses represent operational leasing.
During the last quarter of 2008, Embraer increased the number of customers with firm orders for jets from the Embraer 170/190 family, with the sale of 11 E-Jets (six Embraer 170s and five Embraer 190s) to British Airways, from the United Kingdom.
The Company delivered the first Embraer 190s to Holland's KLM Cityhopper, and Embraer 195s to Azul Linhas Aereas, which is the first Brazilian airline to operate an E-Jet. Regional – Compagnie Aerienne Europeene, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France, received the 500th E-Jet.
On December 31, 2008, Embraer's Commercial Aviation order book, by product, was:
                                                                   Firm
                                        Firm                      Order
    Aircraft Type                     Orders Options Deliveries Backlog
    ERJ 145 Family
       ERJ 135                          108     -      108       –
       ERJ 140                           74     -       74       –
       ERJ 145                          733     50     693       40
    Total – ERJ 145 Family              915     50     875       40
    Embraer 170/190 Family
       Embraer 170                      193     93     148       45
       Embraer 175                      134    173     114       20
       Embraer 190                      438    466     201      237
       Embraer 195                      111     78      27       84
    Total – Embraer 170/190 Family      876    810     490      386
    TOTAL                             1,791    860   1,365      426
Note: Deliveries and the firm order backlog include aircraft sold by the Defense and Government segment to State-owned company (Satena and TAME).
The new sales of the Phenom executive jets family increased the number of firm contracts to over 850 aircraft. The entry level Phenom 100 jet received the Type Certificate (TC) from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil – ANAC) and from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The first two units of the jet were delivered in December. The ultra-large Lineage 1000 received, in the end of year, the Type Certificate from ANAC and from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the FAA.
In the defense and government segment, Embraer signed another important contract for the Super Tucano in Latin America with the Dominican Republic, besides the sale of one aircraft for transporting government officials in Asia to the Royal Thai Army. The Company signed a contract amendment with the Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira – FAB) for the A-1M program of AMX modernization, in December.
Embraer is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jets up to 120 seats, and one of Brazil's leading exporters. Embraer's headquarters are located in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, and it has offices, industrial operations and customer service facilities in Brazil, the United States, France, Portugal, China and Singapore.
Founded in 1969, the Company designs, develops, manufactures and sells aircraft for the Commercial Aviation, Executive Aviation, and Defense and Government segments. The Company also provides after sales support and services to customers worldwide. On December 31, 2008, Embraer had a workforce of 23,509 employees and a firm order backlog of US$ 20.9 billion.
Super Tucano to Dominican Republic
Embraer confirmed the sale of eight Super Tucano aircraft to the government of the Dominican Republic through a contract that was finalized at the end of last year. The aircraft will be operated by the nation's Air Force to perform internal security and border patrol missions, within an operations theater focusing on fighting the drug traffic. This is the third export contract for the aircraft, after sales that were made to the Air Forces of Colombia (FAC) and Chile (FACH).
To date, 63 units of the Super Tucano have already been delivered to the Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira – FAB) and 25 to the FAC, and they are successfully used for border surveillance and other operational missions. In all, 144 aircraft have been sold to four Latin American customers.
The FAC received its 25th Super Tucano in August of last year, thus finalizing the deliveries begun to this customer, in December 2006. The contract was the first export of this aircraft, and the agreement included TOSS (Training and Operation Support System), an advanced training and operational support system with ground stations. The FACH agreement for the sale of 12 aircraft was also announced by Embraer in August 2008.
The Super Tucano went into operation with the FAB in December 2003, to be used for pilot training, as well as for operational missions. This capability ranks the Super Tucano as the world's only aircraft in production that is able to handle advanced pilot training and surveillance and counter-insurgency missions, even at night, using night vision goggles and electro-optical and infrared sensors.
