The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

Fifteen years for the Brasilia

On 27th July 1983 the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia prototype (PT-ZBA) made its maiden flight. This 30-seat twin-turboprop commuter aircraft was the successor of the smaller EMB-110 Bandeirante, the Embraer's succesful market-breaker, at the beginning of the seventies.

During the past fifteen years, the Brasilia, in various versions, totalled more than 300 orders and it is still in production, albeit at a low pace, along with the new EMB-145 regional jet, the best-seller which is confirming the position of Embraer on this market.

In the picture: Embraer EMB-120ER Brasilia (c/n 149) PH-MGX of the Dutch airline Martinair at the Punta Cana airport in Repubblica Dominicana. It was built in 1989 for the Belgian airline Delta Air Transport as OO-DTK. This aircraft is now operated in the Caribian region and, as January 1998, it has logged 11,302 flight-hours for a total of 11,832 cycles

(Aeromedia, January 1998)