Brazilian manufacturer Embraer on Dec. 4 began construction on what will be a 149,500-square-foot, $50 million assembly and completions plant.
Located at Florida’s Melbourne International Airport, the plant will serve as a U.S. final assembly, paint, and interior facility for new Phenom 100s and 300s. The plant should open for business in 2010. Additional Phenoms will be assembled and completed at Embraer’s factory in Gaviao Peixoto, Brazil. The Florida plant will have areas set aside for customers to meet with designers to plan cabin interiors for all Embraer executive jets, along with full-scale mockups to aid in the process.
Embraer said that certification of the Phenom 100—for which there are about 280 orders to date—is only days away. In all, Embraer says that there are orders for some 850 Phenom 100 and 300 aircraft. The Phenom 100 is Embraer’s six-seat, 380-knot, 1,160-nm very light jet offering; the Phenom 300 is a 7- to 9-seat, 450-knot, 1,800-nm light jet.
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