Embraer expands into helicopter market

By Samantha Pearson in Sao Paulo:
Embraer, the world’s largest producer of regional aircraft, has made its first move into Latin America’s booming helicopter market, teaming up with a unit of Italy’s state-controlled Finmeccanica.

The São Paulo-based company said on Monday that it planned to create a joint venture with Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland within months to produce helicopters for both military and commercial use in Brazil and the rest of the region.

In spite of Brazil’s recent economic slowdown the country’s helicopter fleet is still growing about 20 per cent per year, according to Abraphe, the industry association. Brazil’s growing offshore oil and gas industry is boosting demand specifically for midsize twin-engined helicopters, Embraer and AgustaWestland said.

Increased defence spending in the country and growing helicopter travel among executives in Brazil’s traffic-clogged cities also present promising opportunities, they added. Of the 1,720 helicopters in operation, almost 40 per cent are based in the country’s business hub state of São Paulo, Abraphe said.

“This is an important step for Embraer as we continue expanding our business,” said Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer’s chief executive, who has looked to diversify the company as growth slows in its commercial and private aviation business.

In November last year Embraer won a contract for just over $400m to provide border surveillance equipment to the Brazilian army, and it also said that it was looking at building ships for the navy.

The company has said that it expects its security and defence business to generate a quarter of total revenue by 2020, up from 15 per cent in 2011.

For Finmeccanica, the agreement with Embraer marks the group’s latest attempt to tap faster growth in emerging markets.

“Brazil is an important market for AgustaWestland and we believe having an industrial presence in this country will help us to further grow our business in one of the world’s fastest growing markets,” said Bruno Spagnolini, AgustaWestland’s chief executive.

Bonus Depreciation Extended for New Aircraft Purcahses

Legal Director at Advocate Tax Consulting, Jonathan Levy, talks about the extension and describes the benefit.
http://www.advocatetax.com/7416/%E2%80%9Cfiscal-cliff%E2%80%9D-deal-extends-bonus-depreciation-retroactively-enhances-expensing-election-for-2012-and-into-2013/

Embraer Executive Jets Flies First Made-in-USA Phenom 300

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1vaN9Uixys&feature=youtu.be

Melbourne, FL, December 5, 2012 – Embraer Executive Jets’ first made-in-the-USA Phenom 300 was rolled out and made its first flight today. The aircraft joined the production line in September and today’s flight marks the anniversary of the maiden flight of the first Phenom 100 to be produced in the U.S.  

Delivery of the light Phenom 300 is scheduled to go to the Embraer Executive Jets’ Melbourne-based flight department which will use it as a flight demonstrator aircraft. 

“This is a major milestone for our facility,” said Phil Krull, Managing Director of Embraer’s 23-month-old U.S.-based production facility. “The reduction in production time to half of what it took for the first Phenom 100 means the processes we put in place for production have now matured. We are now on schedule to produce eight per month in the coming months as and when we require full production capacity.” 
Embraer opened the Melbourne production facility in February 2011 and the nearby 58,000-square-foot Global Customer Center on December 5, 2011. In November, it broke ground, inaugurating the construction of its newest venture in its aeronautical campus, the $26 million, 67,000-square-foot Embraer Engineering and Technology Center USA, expected to be completed in mid-2014. 

“The roll out of the first Made-in-the-USA Phenom 300 is another historic marker for our company,” said Ernest Edwards, President, Embraer Executive Jets. “The $50-million development of our current Melbourne facilities, coupled with equally significant investments in manufacturing elsewhere, brings to fruition our goal of becoming a major, global aviation company. The investment we have made here in the last few years, at a time when most of the industry was retrenching, reflects the Company’s commitment to bringing aircraft that are a breed apart in the business aviation industry.”