Embraer today announced that business jet deliveries rose nearly 20% in 2013 despite delays that postponed entry-into-service of the new Legacy 500 jet.

Embraer delivered 119 business jets overall, including 90 light jets and 29 large jets, the company says.

The overall total is the company’s best delivery performance since 2010. Deliveries peaked that year at 144 before falling to 99 for each of the next two years.

The Phenom 300 super-light jet was the manufacturer’s most popular aircraft with 30 deliveries in the fourth quarter. The Legacy 650, a derivative of the ERJ145, was shipped to 12 customers during the same period. Embraer also delivered eight Phenom 100s and three Lineage 1000s in the fourth quarter.

Last February, Embraer projected that it would deliver between 105 and 120 business jets in 2013.

That number anticipated the arrival of the Legacy 500 during 2013, however. The first delivery of the Legacy 500 is now scheduled in the second quarter of this year.

The delivery results in 2013 suggest Embraer’s executive aviation division will post revenues at the high end of the company’s guidance, which is between $1.4-to-$1.6 billion. That represents about one-fourth of all Embraer revenues.

Embraer also delivered 90 commercial aircraft in 2013, including 32 in the fourth quarter.

Source: FlightGlobal.com