Embraer Breaks Ground for Legacy 450/500 Plant in U.S.

Embraer Executive Jets broke ground today on an expansion project at its Melbourne (Fla.) International Airport campus that will allow Legacy 450/500 assembly to begin there in the second half of 2016. The company plans to deliver at least one Legacy 500 from the facility in 2016 and has a planned production capacity of six per month. The aircraft manufacturer has assembled and delivered nearly 80 Phenom 100s and 300s from the Florida facility since 2012.

The expansion project for the midsize Legacy jets will increase the company’s existing footprint in Melbourne by 2.5 times, according to Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Marco Túlio Pellegrini. The new 236,000-sq-ft facility is expected to be operational by 2016. There are four main elements to the project: an expansion of the Phenom assembly facility to allow for assembly of Phenom and midsize Legacy jets under one roof; a new paint facility that can accommodate the Legacy 450/500; a completion center/flight-prep building; and a new dedicated delivery center for the Legacy jets.

The assembly center expansion will create an L-shaped building–a design intended to allow Phenom assembly to continue unabated during construction. Embraer expects to add 600 new jobs in Melbourne over the next five years as a result of the plant expansion.

FAA certification of the Legacy 500 is pending (following August 12 approval from the Brazil’s ANAC); approval of the Legacy 450 is expected to follow by a year.