Embraer business jet deliveries in the second quarter continued a first-half trend of tracking above the previous year's output, as the company hopes to boost overall production by as much as 20% in 2013.

Deliveries of Embraer light jets - namely, the Phenom 100 and 300 - in the second quarter rose by 6.9% year on year to 31 aicraft, while shipments of the Legacy 600 and Lineage 1000 large jets jumped by 150% to 10 aircraft.

Overall, first-half shipments improved compared with the previous year by 24%, to 41 business jets.

Embraer has previously advised investors that it expects to deliver 105 to 120 business jets, worth between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion in 2013. The deliveries are expected to be split between 80 to 90 light jets and 25 to 30 large jets.

Although first-half deliveries count for about one-third of the predicted range, Embraer traditionally ships significantly more aircraft in the second half of the year than the first.

The first-half improvement is a key indicator of progress for a light jet sector that has laboured to recover post-2008. Embraer's business jet deliveries peaked at 145 in 2010, but stagnated at 99 aircraft in both 2011 and 2012.

Source: Flight International