Embraer’s Praetor business jets are about to get major cabin upgrades.
The updated models, named the Praetor 500E and 600E, will replace Embraer’s baseline Praetor 500 and 600, which each entered service in 2019 and are based on its former Legacy business jet family.
The Brazilian airframer intends in the first quarter of 2029 to begin delivering the Praetors with a host of passenger cabin improvements, including larger galleys, higher ceilings, new seats, a tech-heavy cabin management system (CMS) and a 42in curved video monitor set within the cabin’s left wall, Embraer said on 24 February.
Though development is ongoing, Embraer has recently been flying, from its US headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, a Praetor 600 equipped with most E-series cabin updates.
Executives describe the curved touchscreen monitor – dubbed “Smart Window” – an industry-first feature and the crowning achievement of the Praetor E programme.
While the monitor covers one cabin window, it can display high-resolution video taken from outside the aircraft, giving passengers a sensation of seeing through a window.
“This is the genesis of the industry-changing technology that everyone’s going to try [to] follow to get to that world of windowless airplanes,” says Embraer vice-president of design Jay Beever, adding that Embraer holds patents for the technology. “We did it first.”
Windows add weight and production complexity, which is why some designers expect the industry will eventually shift to windowless aircraft. But passengers are feared unlikely to accept such designs – unless engineers equip them with video systems that provide realistic (and not nauseating) views of the outside world. It is a difficult nut to crack.
Embraer’s Praetor update project has been underway for about five years.
“We didn’t do anything without asking the customers what they wanted… and with that, we responded,” says Embraer vice-president of market intelligence Alvadi Serpa.
The midsize nine-passenger Praetor 500 has 3,340nm (6,186km) of range, while the super-midsize, 12-passenger 600 can fly 4,020nm. Both are powered by twin Honeywell HTF7500E turbofans each producing 6,540lb (29kN) of thrust for the 500, and 7,528lb for the 600.
Those specifications are apparently unchanged for the new E-series, as Embraer has disclosed only cabin updates. The new variants will, however, have 15% greater maximum payloads, though the manufacturer says current Praetors can already accommodate that increase.
Embraer assembles Praetors at its Sao Jose dos Campos facility in Brazil and delivers them from Melbourne. The jets compete to varying degrees with Bombardier Challenger 3500s and Challenger 650s, Dassault Falcon 2000s, Gulfstream G280s and Textron Aviation Cessna Citation Latitudes and Longitudes.
500Es are listed at $21.6 million each, up 5-6% from the baseline 500, while the 600E will cost $25.8m, 7-8% more.
Executives say the updates will make the Praetors’ cabin comfort commensurate with their considerable range, noting Praetor 600s can fly for 9h, with New York-London being a typical route.
Central to the project, Embraer is giving the 500E and 600E a wholly new CMS that integrates with smartphone apps and controls numerous cabin features, from lights to window shades, video to airflow.
The Smart Window – a 4K-resolution, OLED (organic light-emitting diode) monitor – is available only in the larger 600E, and is optional. The monitor curves from top to bottom to match the circumference of the fuselage; in typical cabin configurations, the monitor faces a divan, creating a “movie theatre” experience, Embraer says.
In fact, Embraer actually considered using a “transparent” OLED monitor – yes, those exist. Passengers would be able to see through such a screen, but Embraer squashed the idea because window light would negatively affect picture quality.
CMS features will be accessible via the wide-screen monitor. It will be able to display video from three external cameras – one mounted to each side of the fuselage and one, forward-facing, mounted underneath the fuselage just aft of the nose gear.
Displaying the left camera’s feed gives passengers a window-like experience.
“When you look out, you see the wing tip naturally, as you would as if you are looking out the window,” Beever says, noting a monitor developer initially balked at creating such a product. “This all had to be custom-shaped to the fuselage cross section.”
Lufthansa Technik developed the technology to Embraer’s specifications. Praetor Es will also have bulkhead-mounted monitors.
Embraer has already spent much time designing the 500E and 600E’s new leather cabin seats, which the company itself plans to manufacture at its Melbourne site. The seats will replace Praetor seats currently produced by a supplier.
“We were able to innovate in ways that we just can’t with a partner,” says Beever. “Now we have the full monty.”
The seats will each have lumbar supports and six adjustments points. “All the controls are electrical assisted, which makes it much easier to move the seat around,” Serpa says. A button unlocks the seat, enabling it to be adjusted; releasing the button locks the seat in place. Seats will have wired and wireless phone chargers, and CMS touchscreens.
Embraer is giving Praetor Es an LED light system capable of producing nearly unlimited colours (16 million variations, actually, Serpa says) and redesigned overhead side panels that provide 1.5in (3.8cm) more headroom.
Gone will be twisting air vents (known as “gaspers” in industry parlance), replaced on Praetor Es with touchscreen-controlled vents.
Embraer has also moved the stowage position of the cabin-galley pocket door from the right to the left side of the forward bulkhead. That change will allow it to extend the length of the Praetor 600E’s galley (the 500-series has no galley) by several inches – enough to accommodate a waste bin that is 30% larger and a chiller that is 50% larger.
Embraer will also offer the 600E with an optional crew lavatory, set within a storage cabinet behind the cockpit, meaning pilots need not bother passengers by using the rear lavatory.
“That will resonate with the fractional operators, the charter operators,” says Serpa.
Embraer is offering three 500E and 600E cabin collections – Executive, Artistry and Signature – at different prices. While corporate flight departments might opt for the baseline Executive layout, other buyers will likely splurge for Signature, the aiframer says.
