Embraer has celebrated the opening of its first US aircraft final assembly plant, as the company prepares for large scale manufacture of its Phenom executive jet series in the US.
Based at Melbourne International Airport in Florida, the new 7432 sqm hangar and paintshop facility will be used for production of the Phenom 100 entry level executive jet.
Embraer had originally announced Melbourne as its chosen location for a new 13,935sqm, US$50 million state-of-the-art facility in May 2008. In December of that year, the company broke ground on the first phase of the construction – the production hangar and paint shop which has now been completed.
In addition to the final assembly plant, a second construction phase for Embraer’s Customer Centre has already begun, giving customers the ability to custom design interiors of their Phenom, Legacy and Lineage executive jets with the use of high-end 3D visualiation technology. Final completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2011.
126 Phenom jets were produced and delivered by Embraer to customers worldwide in 2010.
