Embraer said it sold 33 Ipanema 203 aerial application aircraft during the recent first quarter, marking an upward sales trend in this market segment. The company said sales of the aircraft, a design that has evolved over decades, rose 38 percent compared with the previous year.
The Brazilian manufacturer said its agricultural aircraft unit expects sales for the full year to be “similar to or better than 2022,” when it sold 66 aircraft. The company also said that given a backlog of orders over the past 12 months, it is scheduling new orders for production and delivery next year.
In terms of deliveries, Embraer said it expects to deliver 65 of the Ipanema airplanes this year, compared with 55 in 2022 and 42 in 2021. The company noted that delivery volume is highest during the second half of the year due to the market segment’s seasonality.
“We have experienced three consecutive years of growth in the volume of aircraft delivered, which highlights the very high confidence that our customers and operators have in the Ipanema 203,” said Sany Onofre, Embraer’s Ipanema program manager. “By combining high technology and tradition, the Ipanema 203 remains a benchmark of high productivity and low operating costs.”
Production of the initial version of the aircraft began in 1969, and last year the Ipanema series reached the milestone of 1,500 aircraft delivered. Embraer developed an ethanol-powered version of the aircraft in 2004 after customers began experimenting with the fuel, which is widely available in Brazil.
In 2021, Embraer flew an electric-powered version of the 203 as part of a larger project to develop electric power for future aircraft.
