With AIN Media Group's Aviation International News and its predecessor Aviation Convention News celebrating the company's 50th year of continuous publication this year, AIN’s editorial staff is going back through the archives each month to bring readers some interesting events that were covered over the past half-century.

REWIND: (May 2005) Riding the wave created by the success of its 50-seat regional jet program (now on the wane as the regional airlines evolve towards larger aircraft), Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has set its sights on becoming a major player in the business aviation market to bolster its move into building larger regional airliners (the 170 and 190 lines).

At the Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition last month, company president Mauricio Botelho announced a decision to launch a new business jet or series of business jets in the coming months that would “likely” be below the Legacy in the business aircraft food chain. “We plan to become a major player in executive aviation within the next 10 years,” declared Botelho.

FASTFORWARD: Based on the success of its first business jet, the EMB-135-derived Legacy 600/650, Embraer decided to expand its product line with new, clean-sheet designs such as the light Phenom 100 and Phenom 300. They received their certifications in 2008 and 2009 respectively and have gone on to become some of the most popular business jets with more than 1,000 deliveries between them. Other additions to the Embraer lineup were the E190-based Lineage 1000 bizliner, and the Legacy 450/500, which since evolved into today’s Praetor 500 and 600. Since 2000, Embraer Executive Jets has secured 10 percent of the total business jet deliveries, fulfilling Mauricio Botelho’s vision.