Embraer's growth target of 80 percent over the next seven years would result in $10 billion in revenue by 2030, thanks largely to its presence in the flourishing Asia-Pacific region. Speaking with AIN just ahead of this year's Singapore Airshow, company president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto noted the company’s high-profile presence at the Changi Exhibition Center reflects its ambition to meet that goal.
“We’ve completed our [post-Covid] business turnaround since 2022, and from 2023 we’ve been back in a growth period,” Neto told AIN. “Asia-Pacific countries are a very important part of our plan and we have a young and very competitive portfolio of products to offer [that market].”
Embraer’s show lineup includes a new example of its E195-E2 airliner in a new "Tech Eagle" livery. The aircraft, which can seat up to 140 passengers, already has found favor in this part of the world with orders logged last year from customers including Singapore-based low-cost carrier Scoot.
According to Neto, the capacity and operating economics of the E2 give airlines new options at the lower end of the narrowbody market segment. “It fills a gap between regional jets and narrowbodies that has opened up and airlines have been rethinking [the market] since Covid,” Neto commented.
In 2023, Embraer delivered 38 of the E2 jets and took firm orders for another 271, leaving a backlog of 182. It also logged 35 orders for the smaller E190, with a remaining backlog of 16. The E2s expand Embraer’s airliner family, which also includes the 76-seat E175 E1, which continues to open new routes in markets such as India with carriers including Star Air.
In its year-end summary of orders and deliveries issued at the end of January, Embraer said it increased aircraft deliveries across the group by 13 percent to reach a total of 181 units. With industry-wide supply chain issues easing somewhat, the company aims to increase its output to between 185 and 200 aircraft this year, with most of this growth coming from the commercial and executive aviation business units.
Embraer is displaying its Praetor 600 business jet in Singapore, having quite recently delivered an example of the super-midsize aircraft to South Korea’s Flight Inspection Center. According to Neto, demand for private and corporate aircraft remains strong to the extent that the manufacturer could have delivered more than the 63 examples of the Phenom 300 light jet it produced in 2023 if only it had access to more parts. He expects the new Praetor to prove no less popular.
New Technology and Defense Versatility On the Menu
Another of Embraer's increasingly diverse business interests includes Eve Air Mobility, in which it remains the majority shareholder since the spin-off achieved a New York Stock Exchange listing in May 2022. At the Singapore show, Asia-Pacific visitors will get their first chance to view a mockup of the four-passenger eVTOL aircraft Eve aims to certify in 2026, following a planned first flight later this year. It has reported letters of intent from 28 prospective customers covering more than 2,800 examples of the battery-electric aircraft.
Embraer is offering visitors the chance to get a virtual reality feel for what they might experience on eVTOL flights in and around urban areas of up to 60 or so miles. The Embraer/Eve team is also actively engaged in developing the infrastructure needed for the new aircraft, including air traffic management software.
Also making a Singapore show debut this week, the C-390 Millennium multi-mission tactical transport aircraft represents Embraer's answer to Asia-Pacific defense procurement contests following its recent selection by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration for the country’s air force.
On February 9, Embraer signed a memorandum of understanding with India's Mahindra Group to collaborate over arrangements for supplying the C-390 for the Indian Air Force's Medium Transport Aircraft program. The companies say they will develop an industrialization plan that could involve local production under the Made in India policy.
According to Neto, the C-390 is drawing attention in the region mainly due to what he sees as its ability to quickly transition between missions, offering reduced operational complexity than some alternatives while still featuring advanced capabilities such as fly-by-wire controls. The aircraft has logged almost 40 orders to date from customers including Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Looking further into the future, Embraer continues its decarbonization efforts through possible new hybrid-electric and hydrogen-electric aircraft under development within its Energia program. It is targeting the availability of the former in 2030, followed by the latter in 2035. It has already prepared an electric technology demonstrator and plans to test a hydrogen flying testbed in 2025.
“Over the past 30 years, Embraer has certified more than 20 new aircraft, and then manufactured and supported these, which makes it simpler for us to introduce new technology to the market,” Neto concluded.