Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has concluded the financing for the export of 32 Embraer E175s to American Airlines, with the total operation worth around R$4.5 billion (USD $0.8 billion).
The acquisition – announced earlier this year – includes a firm order for 90 E175 jets, with purchase rights for an additional 43 aircraft. If all purchase rights are exercised, the total agreement will exceed $7 billion in value, according to list price.
“This financing will contribute to accelerate the production and export of our aircraft to American Airlines and boosts Brazil’s neo-industrialisation process, increasing the country’s innovation and competitiveness,” explained Francisco Gomes Neto, president and CEO of Embraer.
He added that BNDES’ “strategic vision” has been “fundamental to the development of national industry”, a sentiment echoed by the Bank’s president Aloizio Mercadante, who stated: “The maintenance of this support… contributes to [Embraer] remaining one of the three largest in the world in aircraft production, generating qualified jobs and income in Brazil”.
As Embraer’s largest partner, BNDES has supported the export of more than 1,300 aircraft since 1997, with financing exceeding a total combined sum of $25 billion. In February of this year, the federal public company also approved financing of $90 million for Embraer to “develop new products, processes, and digital technologies for gains in efficiency, productivity, and also for sustainable air mobility, with a focus on energy transition and carbon emission reduction”.
José Luís Gordon, director of productive development, innovation, and foreign trade at BNDES, concluded that “BNDES is committed to innovation in the Brazilian aerospace industry to make it increasingly competitive and sustainable, with the capacity to expand markets and develop new technologies, aligned with the Brazilian federal government’s Mais Produção Plan, in the axis of a more exporting and innovative industry focused on high value-added products”.