Florida Plant To Increase Embraer Phenom Output

By: Chad Trautvetter

May 15, 2008
Aircraft

The 149,500-sq-ft Phenom 100/300 final assembly and completions facility that Embraer is building at Melbourne (Fla.) Airport will substantially increase the aircraft manufacturer’s production capacity for the two small jets. A company spokeswoman said the $50 million Melbourne facility, which was announced on Tuesday and is scheduled to be operational in 2010, will complement Embraer’s Phenom final assembly and completions complex in Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, nearly doubling production rates of the Phenom 100 very light jet and derivative Phenom 300 light jet.

When fully ramped up, the Florida plant will be able to assemble eight Phenoms a month, or an additional 96 aircraft per year. Embraer said it has orders for more than 750 Phenoms.

The Melbourne facility will also house a customer design center for all Embraer executive jets, complete with fabric samples and full-scale mockups. However, the company’s U.S. headquarters will not move to the new facility; they will remain in Fort Lauderdale, the spokeswoman told AIN.

Meanwhile, Embraer will unveil a cabin mockup of its new midsize jet at EBACE next week in Geneva and give updates on all of its business jets.

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