Embraer Delivers Its 2,000th Business Jet

Embraer has delivered its 2,000th business jet. The milestone aircraft, a midsize Praetor 500, was handed over to an undisclosed corporate flight department at a ceremony at Embraer Executive Jets' Global Customer Center in Melbourne, Florida, the company announced on 29 August 2025. The delivery came 23 years after the Brazilian manufacturer handed over its first business jet in 2002.

Michael Amalfitano, president and chief executive of Embraer Executive Jets, said the milestone confirmed Embraer's place among the leading business jet manufacturers and reflected the popularity of the Praetor family with large corporate flight departments. Embraer said its executive jet deliveries had grown at an average compound rate of 14% a year since 2002.

From airliner derivative to full product line

Embraer entered business aviation with the Legacy 600, a large-cabin jet derived from its ERJ-135 regional airliner, which entered service in 2002. Using an existing airliner airframe gave Embraer a spacious cabin at a competitive price, but the company's growth in the sector came from clean-sheet designs.

• Phenom 100 and Phenom 300: Entry-level and light jets that entered service in 2008 and 2009. The Phenom 300 family has been the world's most delivered light jet for 13 consecutive years, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
• Legacy 450 and Legacy 500: Midsize and midsize-plus jets with full fly-by-wire flight controls, unusual in their class when introduced in the mid-2010s.
• Praetor 500 and Praetor 600: Developed from the Legacy 450 and 500 and launched in 2018, with greater range and updated cabins. They replaced the Legacy models in production.

The Praetor 500

The aircraft chosen for the 2,000th delivery is Embraer's midsize model. Embraer describes it as the fastest and longest-range jet in the midsize category, able to fly coast-to-coast routes in North America such as Miami to Seattle or Los Angeles to New York nonstop.

Embraer unveiled the Praetor 500 at the NBAA convention in October 2018 as an upgraded Legacy 450, with more fuel capacity and aerodynamic changes to extend its range. It was certified by Brazil's ANAC in August 2019 and by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in September 2019. The first aircraft was delivered to the fractional operator Flexjet in December 2019. The Legacy 450 and 500 on which the Praetors are based first flew in 2013 and 2012 respectively.

The cabin has a flat floor and a height of 1.83 m (6 ft), and is pressurised to a cabin altitude of 5,800 ft. It can seat eight to 12 passengers depending on layout. For corporate flight departments, the appeal is a stand-up cabin combined with nonstop transcontinental range in an aircraft smaller and cheaper to operate than a super-midsize or large-cabin jet.

Specification	Embraer Praetor 500
Category	Midsize business jet
Range	3,340 nm (6,186 km) with four passengers and NBAA IFR reserves
High-speed cruise	466 kn (863 km/h)
Engines	Two Honeywell HTF7500E
Flight controls	Full fly-by-wire with turbulence reduction
Maximum altitude	45,000 ft
Cabin altitude	5,800 ft

Market position

Embraer delivered 130 business jets in 2024, of which 65 were Phenom 300s. The company said that in 2024 one in every three small and midsize-cabin business jets delivered worldwide was an Embraer. Its competitors in these categories include Textron Aviation's Cessna Citation range, Bombardier's Challenger 3500, Gulfstream's G280 and the Pilatus PC-24.

The Melbourne, Florida site where the handover took place is central to that strategy. Embraer assembles Phenom and Praetor aircraft in Melbourne as well as in Brazil, giving it a US production base close to its largest market.

Why it matters

Reaching 2,000 deliveries puts Embraer in a small group of business jet manufacturers with a fleet of that size. A large in-service fleet supports residual values, makes it easier for operators to find trained pilots and maintenance support, and strengthens the case for corporate flight departments and fractional operators to standardise on Embraer types.

What has happened since

• Full-year 2025: Embraer delivered 155 business jets in 2025, at the top of its guidance and its highest annual total in 15 years. The total comprised 14 Phenom 100EXs, 72 Phenom 300Es, 39 Praetor 500s and 30 Praetor 600s.
• Second quarter 2026: Embraer delivered 45 business jets in the quarter, up from 38 a year earlier, as part of its best second-quarter performance in 16 years across the group. It kept its 2026 guidance of 160 to 170 executive jet deliveries.