Mr Manfred Baudzus, regional sales director of Embraer Asia-Pacific, with the Phenom 300 executive jet. -- ST PHOTOS: CHEW SENG KIM
TO THE Singapore Dream of 5Cs (cash, credit card, car, condominium and country club), add a sixth component, if you dare: a PJ - not the unglamorous garment for sleeping in but the ultimate status icon the world over: a private jet.
It costs $12 million and is in Singapore for the first time, as part of aircraft maker Embraer's Asia-Pacific tour to display its prize product: the Phenom 300 executive jet.
The plane accommodates up to 11 occupants and can fly non-stop from Singapore to cities like Taipei in Taiwan, Darwin in Australia and Kolkata in India.
The jet has sold well: 160 Phenom 300s and its predecessor, the smaller Phenom 100, have been delivered around the world.
Though there are only 637 business jets in the Asia-Pacific, representing 3.6 per cent of such aircraft worldwide, Embraer is 'optimistic about the region as a potential market'.
This is because the number of deliveries to the region doubled from 60 in 2005 to about 120 in 2008, before sliding down a notch to 100 last year as a result of the global financial crisis.
