During the 1940s the Brazilian government decided it was time to begin aircraft manufacturing in Brazil and under the auspices of the Instituto de Pesquisas e Desenvolvimento (Research and Development Institute) an aeronautical development programme was put in place. It took until 1954 before development and construction of the first aircraft and then a few projects came and went, though nothing was constructed on a commercial basis. Those years, though, were necessary in helping to develop the knowledge and experience in aeronautics. In 1965 further changes were put into effect to create a company capable of manufacturing aircraft on a commercial basis, with government funding.

That first aircraft was to be the Bandeirante, which made its first flight in 1968. It led to the formation of Embraer as a separate company, in 1969. The Bandeirante was initially purchased and operated by the Brazilian air force; a local airline, Transbrasil, then bought some and that led to the first export orders from 1975. The Bandeirante went on to become a commercial success, selling over 500 aircraft in 36 countries.

Embraer also manufactured an agricultural aircraft, the Ipanema, and over 1,000 of these have been made, and still operate today. Embraer also manufactured Piper aircraft under licence. In 1975 the first pressurised aircraft, the Xingu, made its maiden flight. Most were sold to the French air force. Further military products, most of them training aircraft, followed but it was not until the early 1970s that further development of commercial planes began. The Brasilia was to be a turboprop carrying around 40 passengers and 350 were sold over the years.

The early 1990s were difficult for Embraer and the company was privatised in 1994, though in the meantime its engineers had developed the ERJ 145, a regional jet aircraft made to carry up to passengers on primarily short-haul routes. Over 1,000 of these (and similar aircraft in the same series) continued up to 2007.

In 1999 Embraer developed its E-jet series, in the 190-195 seat medium-haul market – the first one flew in 2002. Since then Embraer has continued developing this series of jets and has also shrunk them back into a business jet in its successful Legacy and Phenom series. It employs about 24,000 people and has a turnover of around US$6 billion.

The ERJ series, with the ERJ 145 as the most successful, is a narrow-bodied twin-jet, the engines mounted at the rear. Seating is three-abreast, two seats on one side and one on the other separated by a single aisle, making this an ideal aircraft for "thin" routes and for hub-and-spoke operations, which is where Embraer has had much success. The smallest plane in the series, the ERJ-135, seats 37 passengers; the ERJ 140 holds 44. The ERJ 145 holds 50 and the ERJ 145 XR the same number but with extra range, up to 2,000 miles, as its initials suggest.

The E-jets are single aisle, narrow-bodied planes, of which over 1,500 have been ordered. The smaller versions, the E-170 and E-175, are designed to carry about 80 passengers; the larger planes in the series, the E-190 and E-195, carry up to 120. With these jets Embraer went to a wing-mounted engine format, all four planes in the series having the extended wing-tip now so common in commercial aviation.

The smallest executve jet in the Embraer stable is the Phenom 100 (pictured left), a compact 4-seater (plus two pilots); the Legacy 600 can accommodate 12 – a few of the seats can be turned into beds as well, making this a serious plane for the longer-haul business traveller. The largest executive jet, the Lineage 1000 can be adapted to any one of 25 different cabin layouts and has rest rooms and toilets for the crew as well as a very luxurious interior for its passengers. This plane has an excellent range and is capable of flying non-stop from New York to Moscow, for example.