Embraer has delivered the first Praetor 500 going to a Brazilian customer, it announced today. The follow-on to the Legacy 450, the Praetor 500 received Brazilian ANAC certification in August 2019, followed by EASA and FAA nods in September 2019. Deliveries of the midsize jet began that year, including to fractional provider Flexjet.

The first Brazilian-bound copy was handed over to an undisclosed customer earlier this month. “We are proud to deliver the first Praetor 500 in Brazil, the leading business aviation market in Latin America.” said Gustavo Teixeira, Embraer sales v-p for Latin America. He added that the twinjet provides a “unique operational versatility, which will allow our new customer to reach farther distances while operating from small airfields.”

Embraer's fly-by-wire Praetor 500 has a 3,340-nm range, enabling it to fly from São Paulo to San Juan, Puerto Rico; Manaus, Brazil to New York; or Natal, Brazil to Lisbon. The aircraft also is able to fly out of challenging airports and destinations, the company noted, including from the Brazilian locations of Angra dos Reis (or Jacarepaguá) to Brasília with eight passengers at a 30 deg C takeoff temperature. The smaller of the two Praetors, the 500 offers a six-foot-high, flat-floor cabin and is capable of seating up to nine passengers.