Embraer bets big on Indian economy

With India being one of the fastest-growing economies, the sales of business jets are picking up pace. Business jets manufacturers like Embraer are betting big on the market. Over the next two years, Embraer will be delivering 20 of its business aircraft. As of now, the aircraft manufacturer has three aircraft in the country. Though the country has only three aircraft in the country today, it is preparing the infrastructure for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of more aircraft. It has tied up with Airworks, a MRO player, for providing MRO services to its customers. “It is a customer-driven move,” Andre Sousa, director-customer support (executive jets), Embraer Asia Pacific Lte Ltd, told Business Standard. Embraer, the Brazilian aerospace firm that is one of the biggest small and medium jets, is setting up customer support and is widening its customer support base with its tie-up with Airworks. Airworks will provide its support at four centres, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

Airworks on its part will stock spare parts, most of which are parts that require more frequent replacements. “We will bring the parts from Singapore and Dubai the other parts that require fewer replacements,” said a top ranking sources from Airworks.“We have now reduced the turnaround time for aircraft to a very great extent with its tie-up, by cutting it to about 6-24 hours from a few days and perhaps a few weeks earlier,” Andre Sousa added. Meanwhile, Embraer is also looking for setting up an MRO for its medium-range ERJ series of aircraft.

Embraer today has a backlog of $15.6 billion worth of aircraft, including all the models of aircraft it manufactures. Pre-slowdown, in 2008 it had a backlog of $20 billion.

It is also hoping to sell regional jets, the ERJs, in India as the Indian economy picks up and the aviation sector is coming out of the doldrums. Over the next 10 years, Embraer sees business potential of India at $8.9 billion.

In the APAC r egion the company has invested $25 million on customer support services. It’s business jets range in prices from $4.29 million for the Phenom 100 to ERJ, which costs $59.48 million.