Business aviation: the complete guide to the industry in Brazil and worldwide

Business aviation, also called executive aviation, private aviation or corporate aviation, is the use of general aviation airplanes and helicopters to carry people and high-value cargo on a schedule, route and airport defined by whoever is flying. Business aviation does not sell seats on a fixed network: it puts an entire aircraft at the disposal of a company, a family or a group, at the moment the trip needs to happen.

To understand where business aviation fits, it helps to split Brazilian civil aviation into two large blocks. On one side is scheduled commercial aviation, made up of the airlines that sell tickets on flights with published timetables and operate under RBAC 121 (the Brazilian equivalent of the airline rules). On the other side is general aviation, which covers everything that is not a scheduled airline: private flying, air taxi, flight training, agricultural aviation, sport aviation, specialized aerial services and many other uses. Business aviation is the slice of general aviation dedicated to high-value corporate and personal travel.

Business aviation vs commercial aviation

The most visible difference between business aviation and commercial aviation is control of the schedule. In commercial aviation, passengers adapt to the airline's timetable, to the connecting hub and to boarding lines. In business aviation, passengers choose the departure time and the airport closest to their final destination and often board through a private terminal or an FBO (fixed base operator) in a few minutes. According to ABAG data published by Forbes Brasil in July 2026, commercial aviation serves just over 147 locations in Brazil, while business aviation helps connect more than 5,500 municipalities.

Business aviation vs general aviation

All business aviation is general aviation, but not all general aviation is business aviation. A crop duster spraying fields, a flying-club single-engine trainer on an instruction flight and a sightseeing hot-air balloon also belong to general aviation. What defines business aviation is the purpose of the flight: taking people (or urgent cargo) to meet a business, medical, family or leisure agenda with flexibility and privacy.

Brazil has the second largest business aviation fleet in the world, behind only the United States. According to ANAC data compiled by ABAG (Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral, the Brazilian General Aviation Association) and published by Forbes Brasil, the Brazilian business aviation fleet totaled 11,362 aircraft in May 2026, up from 10,893 in May 2025. Based on the breakdown released by ABAG in 2025 (table below), this base includes jets, turboprops, helicopters and piston airplanes in operation.

How the Brazilian fleet is made up

Most of the Brazilian business aviation fleet is still made up of piston airplanes, but jets are the fastest-growing segment. In June 2025, according to an ABAG survey based on the RAB (Registro Aeronáutico Brasileiro, the Brazilian Aeronautical Registry) published by Bloomberg Línea, the breakdown was as follows:

Embraer is Brazil's leading business jet manufacturer and one of the three largest in the world by units delivered. In 2025, Embraer delivered 155 business jets, a company record, beating the previous mark of 145 aircraft set in 2010, according to GAMA data cited by Air Data News. In the first half of 2026, Embraer was the second largest manufacturer by business jet deliveries, with 74 units, behind only Gulfstream.

The Phenom and Praetor families

Embraer's business jet portfolio is split into two families. The Phenom family covers very light and light jets, and the Praetor family covers midsize and super-midsize jets. In 2025, deliveries were distributed as follows:

• Phenom 300: 72 units, the company's most delivered model;
• Phenom 100: 14 units;
• Praetor 500 and Praetor 600: 69 units combined, according to GAMA.

The Phenom 300E is a constant presence in Brazilian air taxi fleets because it combines a comfortable cabin for two- to three-hour trips, short-runway performance and competitive operating costs for its category. The Praetor 500 takes passengers over continental distances nonstop, and the Legacy 650, derived from a commercial airliner platform, remains very present in the pre-owned market for those who need a large cabin.

Why Embraer matters for the Brazilian market

Having a global manufacturer in the country brings concrete advantages to business aviation in Brazil:

1. Local technical support: parts, engineering and authorized service centers with support in Portuguese.
2. Supply chain: maintenance, interiors, avionics and training companies grow around the manufacturer.
3. Workforce development: engineers, mechanics and technicians trained by the industry also supply operators and maintenance shops.
4. Resale value: models with a large installed base in Brazil tend to have a more liquid secondary market.

Eve: Embraer's bet on urban air mobility

Embraer is also the controlling shareholder of Eve Air Mobility, which is developing an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) for urban air mobility. The status of Eve's program in 2026, with its revised certification timeline, is covered in the trends and technology section of this guide.

What this means for travelers

For passengers, Embraer's strength translates into availability: Phenom and Praetor jets are among the most widely offered aircraft in the Brazilian charter market, which makes it easier to find an aircraft close to the flight's origin and reduces positioning legs. For buyers, it means a large base of pre-owned aircraft to compare and a mature maintenance market.

Business aviation in Brazil is in a growth cycle, but it lives with dollar-denominated costs, a complex tax burden, expensive credit and infrastructure concentrated in a few central airports. Understanding the opportunities and challenges helps decide when to charter, when to buy and how to structure the operation.

Opportunity 1: reaching the interior

The biggest opportunity for business aviation in Brazil is geography. With commercial aviation serving just over 147 locations and business aviation helping connect more than 5,500 municipalities, according to ABAG, anyone who needs to reach mid-sized cities, industrial hubs, farms and tourist destinations depends on general aviation. This creates demand for regional airports, FBOs in the interior, aviation fuel and maintenance shops outside the state capitals.

Opportunity 2: agribusiness

Agribusiness is one of the engines of the turboprop and jet fleet. Farmers and agricultural groups use aircraft to visit properties spread across several states, monitor harvests and negotiate with trading companies and banks in the capitals. Citi, cited by Bloomberg Línea in 2025, points to agribusiness as one of the drivers of the shift toward larger aircraft.

Opportunity 3: new access models

Shared ownership, Jet Cards, shared flights and empty legs broaden the audience that can use business aviation without buying an entire aircraft. These models increase fleet utilization and tend to lower the hourly cost for the end user.

Challenge 1: cost and exchange rate

Aircraft, parts, engines and much of the maintenance are priced in US dollars. New turboprops and larger aircraft start at US$ 5 million to US$ 7 million, according to industry sources interviewed by Forbes Brasil in 2026, and every exchange rate swing affects both the purchase price and the cost per flight hour. Operating cost estimates need to account for the exchange rate, hours flown per year, mission type and maintenance program.

Challenge 2: taxes

Constitutional Amendment No. 132/2023, part of Brazil's tax reform, authorized the collection of IPVA (the state tax on vehicle ownership) on aircraft, except for agricultural aircraft and those of operators certified to provide air services to third parties. States have already adjusted their regulations: Pará, for example, published a decree in April 2026 that reproduces this exemption. Beyond IPVA, the transition to the new IBS and CBS consumption taxes, which runs until 2033, changes the taxation of services such as charter, maintenance and hangarage. Before buying, it is worth modeling the tax burden with specialized advisors.

Challenge 3: credit

High interest rates make financed purchases more expensive. The Honeywell survey released in October 2026 shows that Latin American operators give more weight to cost factors, such as access to financing, acquisition price and operating cost, than operators in other regions. Leasing structures, foreign-currency financing and share-based consortiums are alternatives that must be compared carefully. Embarque Oficial helps structure aircraft financing.

Challenge 4: illegal competition and infrastructure

Illegal air taxi distorts prices and puts passengers at risk, and the central airports of São Paulo and Rio have limited capacity. The answer lies in enforcement, business airports outside city centers, such as Catarina and Jundiaí, and planning: for aircraft owners, professional aircraft management and expert advice on aircraft sales and acquisitions reduce costs and risks.