Brazilian manufacturer Embraer is the world’s third-largest producer of civil aircraft. In
other words, it is the best of the rest when it comes to manufacturers from outside the
industry-dominating Airbus-Boeing duopoly. To date, it has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft
with more than half a century of manufacturing history. But where exactly does it build them?
Embraer’s main base is situated in São José dos Campos. This city is part of the state of São
Paulo, which is a significant area of Brazil in terms of both population (22% of the entire
country) and GDP (around 34% of the domestic product). It is around 50 miles (80 km) from
the city of São Paulo, which is the state capital, and the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking city.
São José dos Campos is also only 200 miles (320 km) from Rio de Janeiro,
which is one of Brazil’s other major economic centers. As such, it is well-positioned
both economically and geographically for companies like Embraer to base themselves.
In fact, Embraer is not the only company to have noticed the economic potential
of São José dos Campos. The city’s Parque Tecnológico is the world’s only research
institute where Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer all have a presence.
Several of Embraer’s facilities are conveniently situated at the periphery
of São José dos Campos-Professor Urbano Ernesto Stumpf International Airport (SJK). While the
airport presently has no scheduled services, it is an ideal hub from which Embraer can test
and eventually deliver its new aircraft. Its runway 16-34 measures 2,676 meters in length.
Embraer celebrated its 50th birthday in August 2019. As well as being a milestone in terms of
time, this also saw the company announce that it would be expanding its Eugênio de Melo
unit in São José dos Campos. It will invest $30 million to do so, and the project will
result in the facility more than doubling its employee capacity, from 1,500 to 4,000.
Of course, Brazil’s location and the relatively short range of Embraer’s jetliners mean that
such delivery flights may have to take rather interesting itineraries to far-flung customers.
For example, when Belarussian flag carrier Belavia received its first
E195-E2 last December, its journey from São José dos Campos to Minsk
stopped in the coastal city of Recife (Brazil) and then Malaga in Spain.
Embraer’s São José dos Campos headquarters is not its only production facility. Indeed, it
also has such bases elsewhere in the state of São Paulo, in Botucatu and Gavião Peixoto. However,
its production is not limited to Brazilian shores. In fact, Orlando Melbourne International
Airport (MLB) in Florida is home to an Embraer production site for various private jet designs.
These include aircraft from the Phenom and Legacy families. Meanwhile,
the city of Évora houses Embraer Portugal, which is set to play a significant role in developing
the company’s modular ‘FLEXCRAFT‘ program. What’s your favorite Embraer aircraft? Have
you ever visited one of the company’s production facilities? Let us know by leaving a comment!