Embraer intends to return to the turboprop aircraft market in the future in style. The Brazilian planemaker has cited this possibility for some time, but the company’s CEO, Francisco Gomes Neto, made it very clear that this is one of the priorities in the coming years.
In an interview with the Aviation Week podcast, Gomes Neto confirmed that the company is working on two turboprop aircraft projects, the passenger plane and a new military aircraft and that it should have hybrid propulsion, in partnership with the Brazilian Air Force.
According to the executive, Embraer is working on opening new markets such as a turboprop aircraft for commercial aviation. “We have a good project. We believe it’s a good product, and we are now looking for partners to help us to develop,” he said.
But to get the project off the ground, Embraer will need some partners willing to contribute funds. Months ago, the company revealed that the aircraft will be able to carry up to 100 passengers, which would place it at a higher level of capacity compared to the ATR and Dash 8.
Gomes Neto, however, denied that this new aircraft will use a zero-pollutant architecture. “Not the turboprop yet, at least, but we are working on a new light military aircraft. This aircraft, we are working with the Brazilian Air Force, and this aircraft will have this hybrid electric propulsion at this stage of development of the project”, he explained.
The hybrid transport plane project is a cooperation signed a long time ago and should give rise to a replacement to Bandeirante, Embraer’s first aircraft and which is still used by the Air Force in considerable quantities.
One thing the CEO of Embraer is absolutely sure: the company does not intend to sell any of its divisions in the future. After the frustrated agreement with Boeing, Gomes Neto said that “We do not intend to sell a complete unit as we did with Boeing. We are now working different business models for the projects, but not a complete business unit anymore”.
