At a ceremony that included Florida Governor Rick Scott, Embraer today announced that it will expand its current facilities with the addition of a new aircraft assembly line for the Legacy 500/450 twin-engine business jets.The expansion is subject to approval by the appropriate authorities.
The company’s campus at Melbourne International Airport currently includes an assembly plant and paint facility for Phenom 100/300 business jets, as well as Embraer’s worldwide customer center for executive aircraft. As previously announced, the company is also constructing an Engineering and Technology Center, currently operating at a temporary facility at the Melbourne airport, which will become part of Embraer’s Melbourne campus in 2014.
About the news, Embraer President and Chief Executive Officer Frederico Fleury Curado said: “Some 50 percent of our executive jet deliveries go to the U.S. and more than 60 percent of the aircraft content comes from U.S. suppliers and industrial partners, so this is a natural step forward to the benefit of our customers.”
The Legacy 500 is the first midsize business jet incorporating a fly-by-wire control system and full six-foot, stand-up cabin with a flat floor. It has the largest cabin in its class and provides the comfort and incorporates the technology found only in larger, more expensive aircraft. The Legacy 500 will enter service in the first half of 2014, followed by the Legacy 450 one year later.
Construction of the new facility will commence in 2014, and the first Legacy 500 to be delivered from the facility is scheduled for 2016.
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