Embraer announced this week that it delivered its 1500th Ipanema agricultural aircraft during a ceremony at the company’s unit in Botucatu, São Paulo. The aircraft went to rancher Carla de Freitas, who owns Agropecuária Bela Vista, based in Vilhena in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. According to Embraer, it has registered 39 new orders for Ipanema aircraft in the first five months of 2022, a 22 percent increase over the same time period last year.
“Ipanema is a great ally for Brazilian agribusiness and it is trusted by operators throughout the country,” said Embraer head of agricultural aviation Sany Onofre. “Given the favorable agribusiness performance, customers have been anticipating future crop demand and we are very satisfied with the growing results obtained thus far. Given this success, we are excited about the forecast for 2023.”
Embraer reports that the Ipanema currently has a 60 percent share in the aerial spraying segment in Brazil. The aircraft flew for the first time in 1970 and entered commercial production in 1972. The latest model, the EMB-203, has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,800 kg (3,968 pounds), chemical capacity of 950 liters (251 gallons) and runs on ethanol.
