Phenom hits 500th delivery milestone

摘要

Brazilian airframer Embraer has delivered the 500th Phenom business jet in just over five and a half years. The delivery on 5 June of a Phenom 300 to Brazilian start-up Prime Fraction Club hits a key milestone, reflecting Embraer's rapid ascension to the top of the light jet segment. Embraer launched the Phenom series in 2005, and delivered the first two aircraft by the end of 2008. Between launch and first delivery, the overall light jet market both reached its apex in 2007 and began a steady decline, from which it has still not recovered. The arrival of the Phenom 100 in 2008 and Phenom 300 in 2009 came as Embraer's competitors suffered from the market's collapse. One Embraer rival - Hawker Beechcraft - went bankrupt, closed light jet production and sold the surviving turboprop and piston assembly lines to Cessna parent Textron. Embraer did not emerge from the depths of the market crisis completely unscathed, however. Phenom deliveries peaked in 2010 at 126 jets, but dropped to 77 two years later, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.