In order to expand its service and support capacity for the growing fleet of currently more than 100 Embraer executive jets operating in Brazil, Embraer signed a concession agreement, today, with the State of São Paulo, in a ceremony attended by Governor Geraldo Alckmin, opening the way for installing a modern service center in Bertram Luiz Leupolz (SOD) airport, in the city of Sorocaba.

With an estimated investment of US$25 million during the first five years of the project, the facility will generate up to 250 direct jobs. This, and work to be carried out at the airport by the State government, will establish Sorocaba, located 90 kilometers from the city of São Paulo, as one of the country's executive aviation hubs.

The new service center will cover 20,000 square meters, and will have a hangar five times as large as the center located at Embraer's headquarters, in the city of São José dos Campos. Its modern infrastructure includes hangars, VIP lounges, customer meeting rooms, and administrative offices, as well as facilities offering a broad range of maintenance, repair, hangaring, and FBO services, focusing on customer operational flexibility.

"The global support network for Embraer's executive jets now consists of some 60 own and authorized service centers. Brazil, as one of our main markets, deserves special attention," said Marco Túlio Pellegrini, Vice President of Operations, Embraer Executive Jets. "By the end of 2012, the flight simulator for the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 executive jets in Brazil will be operational, improving our customer services for this exclusive segment."

The service center in Sorocaba will constitute, together with the Company's center in São José dos Campos and the authorized ones in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, and Goiânia, a broad services network in strategic places throughout Brazil.

Contributed by Embraer