News
Flight Options buys 100 Embraer executive jets worth US$746M

Dec. 3, 2007, Sao Paulo – Brazilian plane maker Embraer said Monday it
is selling 100 executive jets to U.S.-based Flight Options in a deal
valued at US$746 million.

Flight Options LLC, headquartered in Cleveland, also took out
options on additional 50 of Embraer's Phenom 300 executive jets that
could raise the deal's value to $1.1 billion, Embraer said in a
statement.

It's the largest executive jet order ever for Empresa Brasileira
de Aeronautica SA, which specializes in commercial jets for the
passenger market but is trying to boost its share of the executive
jet market.

The deal includes a maintenance and support program valued at
more than $200 million, Embraer said.

Phenom 300s carry up to nine people, including crew, and Flight
Options said in a statement that the order is “striking evidence of
the continued growth of the private jet industry.''

Embraer, the world's fourth largest plane maker and rival of
Canada's Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B), is a former state-owned
company that nearly collapsed in the 1990s. It added nearly 4,500
Brazilian workers and a graveyard shift this year to boost
production amid rising demand for its commercial and executive jets.

Embraer specializes in mid-range passenger jets seating 80 to 110
passengers for short and medium range routes for airlines that don't
want to risk unfilled seats on larger planes that use much more
fuel.

But Embraer chief executive Frederico Cleury hopes the executive
jet segment will make up more than 20 per cent of Embraer sales in
five years.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS