Embraer recently celebrated its 50-year anniversary with a ceremony that brought together employees, authorities and commercial partners at the company's headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil.

“Embraer resulted from the determination of visionaries who wanted to transform the impossible into reality; and they did it. That's what we want to show at this historic moment for the company,” says president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto. “We grew up with this spirit, we've reached 50 and that is how we will continue over the next decades.”

The 50-year journey has seen Embraer become a global leader of manufacturing commercial jets of up to 150 passenger capacity and a significant player in the competitive world of business aviation. It pioneered the development, certification and manufacturing of the first series aircraft fuelled by ethanol and, in partnership with the Brazilian Air Force, created unique products for the defence and security market. Today it supports customers in over 100 countries, and it all began with the EMB 110 Bandeirante.

With approximately 18,000 direct employees worldwide, the company has initiatives that value its people, highlighting the stories of competence, boldness and courage of those who helped build the Embraer which was founded in August 19th, 1969. Created by the Brazilian government as state-owned Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A., Embraer was initially conceived to transform into engineering and industrial products the science and technology developed by Brazil's Centro Técnico de Aeronáutica (CTA) and Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA). Embraer was privatised in 1994 and became the biggest exporter of high technology products in the Southern Hemisphere and the third biggest manufacturer of commercial aircraft in the world.

Embraer is one of the world’s leading executive jet manufacturers, having entered the business aviation market in 2000 with the Legacy jet, which led to the launch of Embraer Executive Jets in 2005.

Its portfolio consists of the entry-level Phenom 100EV and the light Phenom 300E jet, the medium cabin Legacy 450 and Legacy 500, the midsize Praetor 500 and super-midsize Praetor 600, the large Legacy 650E, and the ultra-large Lineage 1000E. Embraer Executive Jets’ global fleet exceeds 1,400 aircraft, which are in operation in more than 70 countries and are supported by the company’s global customer support and services network of over 70 owned and authorised service centres, complemented by a 24/7 contact centre at its headquarters in Brazil.