During the BRICS Summit held in Xiamen this week, Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate, drew attention from participants.

Founded in 1969, Embraer is now a leading company in the global commercial and executive aviation. Since its launch, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft to buyers. About every 10 seconds a plane made by the Brazilian company takes off somewhere in the world.

There are over 100 nations that use Embraer planes and more than 100 commercial airlines from 60 countries have deployed its jets in their fleet. Its commercial aircraft help passengers go on 145 million trips each year.

Embraer enjoys a global presence, as it operates plants, offices, service centers and maintenance facilities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

At the 2017 China Regional Aviation Forum held in Yinchuan, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, last week, Arjan Meijer, chief commercial officer of Embraer Commercial Aviation, said that currently, the company's planes account for 61 percent of global deliveries in the 70 to 130-seat jet segment.

In China, Embraer has been a leader in commercial airliners since its entry into the market in 2000. Planes produced by the Brazilian enterprise have nearly 80 percent of China's regional aviation market share, link 370 routes connecting 130 cities and make 17 million journeys in the country each year.

To date, Embraer has registered 221 aircraft in China: 187 commercial airliners - 18 of which remain subject to government approval - and 34 executive jets. It has also delivered 182 jets to Chinese clients.

The company's jetliners are very popular among Chinese carriers such as China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in China by fleet size, as well as regional airways such as Tianjin Airlines, Beibu Gulf Airlines and Hebei Airlines.

The company said it is fully confident of its future in the market. Guan Dongyuan, senior vice-president of Embraer and president of Embraer China, said that China is now the world's second-largest economy and its people's livelihood has tremendously improved, so the demand for air trips continues to rise rapidly and sharply, generating opportunities for Embraer.

"As the Chinese government is steadily pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, we are convinced that there will be bigger potential and faster expansion in the country's regional aviation sector. We will continue our endeavors in the Chinese market and keep deepening our collaboration with the government, our clients and market experts to work for a bright future for the regional aviation industry."

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt, which will link China with Europe through central and western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which stretches from southern China to Southeast Asia, and even to Africa.

The grand plan is estimated to benefit about 4.4 billion people in 65 nations, according to the government. The initiative has been encouraging and spurring local governments to boost connectivity and convenience in their transport networks, experts said, noting high-speed railways and regional aviation industries would turn out to be the biggest beneficiaries during this investment drive.

In addition, Embraer plans to take advantage of the Chinese government's efforts to build more commercial airports in the near future, according to Guan.

"The government is determined to better connect underdeveloped regions with economic hubs and industrial clusters through regional aviation facilities, and this is where we can help," he said.

A market outlook report produced by Embraer predicted that China would need at least 1,070 70 to 130-seat jetliners from 2017 to 2036, offering contracts worth over $50 billion to aircraft makers such as Embraer.

According to Meijer, in the next decade, the number of middle-class families in China is expected to grow to 300 million from 100 million, and most of them will come from second-and third-tier cities.

"The urbanization in smaller Chinese cities is expected to drive their demand for aviation transportation," said Meijer.

Facing the big potential of the market, Meijer said the company is ready to seize the opportunities offered. Embraer has accumulated a vast pool of experience and methods in terms of regional airliner operations and market development. He said Embraer is willing and ready to share this expertise and experience with Chinese users.

In addition, Embraer will deliver the first E190-E2, a jet type of the E-Jets E2 family, to the Chinese market in the near future, which will bring more benefit to both passengers and airlines.

E-Jets E2 is the second generation of Embraer's E-Jets family, and nearly 1,400 have been delivered to airlines around the world.

With the new Pratt and Whitney PurePower Geared Turbofan engines and newly designed wings, the E-Jets E2 family will have even better performance in terms of fuel reduction, noise and comfort. Its new interior design concept succeeds the current E-Jets' concept of a two-by-two seating plan without a middle seat, enabling more comfort and more personal space for passengers.

By now, Embraer has gained firm orders of 285 E-Jets E2 planes from multiple airlines and aircraft leasing companies around the world. The clients expressed their intentions of acquiring more of such jets, according to Embraer.

A big market with huge potential to take off

Besides its leading position in global regional aviation, Embraer is also a leading manufacturer of executive jets. Talking about Embraer's predictions for China's executive jet market, Guan said the company anticipates there will be many business opportunities in this sector, so it will implement targeted measures and foster awareness of executive jets' convenience.

He said the United States has about 12,000 executive jets, accounting for more than half of the total global fleet. By comparison, China operates a tiny proportion of 480 such planes, despite being the second-largest economy.

"More and more Chinese enterprises have become multinational giants in their respective fields and more corporate elites are emerging. They have begun to realize that a suitable jetliner will significantly facilitate their businesses by boosting efficiency," Guan explained.

"Therefore, we will strengthen our promotion efforts among these companies and people."

All of Embraer's executive jets, ranging from the super-light Phenom 100 to the ultra-large Lineage 1000E, have served Chinese consumers.

When asked how Embraer would prepare for market competition and seize the opportunities available in both commercial and executive aviation, Guan said that no matter how the market evolves, Embraer will always be devoted to China's aviation industry development, providing the product suites the market needs and treating customers' satisfaction as the top priority.

(China Daily 09/05/2017 page15)