Embraer”s Phenom Very Light Jet (VLJ) has made its maiden flight from the company airfield at S”o Jos” dos Campos in Brazil.
The twin-engined microjet, with a maximum capacity of seven passengers, has already accrued more than 450 orders.
Embraer said that the aircraft flew for 1h 36m, with all flight characteristics and systems operations performing in line with expectations.
A full test programme, including static and fatigue tests, will follow the maiden flight in order to obtain Brazil”s National Civil Aviation Agency certification, which will be followed by US Federal Aviation Authority and European Aviation Safety Agency certification, prior to entering service in mid-2008.
Embraer”s new president and CEO, Frederico Fleury Curado, said: ”When we unveiled the Phenom jets a little more than two years ago, we underlined to the business aviation community our commitment to be a long term player in the executive aviation market.
”The first flight of the Phenom 100 confirms this commitment and constitutes another step in Embraer”s strategy to serve our customers with a product line that spans the market.”
Lead European customer for the Phenom is Swiss start-up JetBird, with an order for 50 aircraft, with deliveries slated to begin in 2009.