Jet Comparison Highlights Video: Embraer Legacy 450 vs Embraer Legacy 500

In a hurry? Here are the highlights of December 2018's Legacy 450 vs Legacy 500 Jet Comparison article.

See how these jets compare in terms of cost, required runway distance, range and payload.

The Legacy 500 was certified on August 12, 2014, becoming the first mid-size business jet with digital flight controls with full fly-by-wire. A year later, the Legacy 450 was certified and is positioned as a ‘light-medium jet’, filling the gap between Embraer’s smaller Phenom jets, and the larger Legacy 500 and 650 jets.

Embraer increased the range of its Legacy 450 shortly after the first delivery, with a retrofit kit now available for the early build aircraft.

New Models Introduction

Embraer recently introduced improved variants of its Legacy 450 and 500 jets. Named the Praetor 500 and 600 and offering 3,250nm and 3,900nm range, respectively, the Praetor 600 should be certified in Q2 2019 and the 500 in Q3 2019.

The $17m Praetor 500 boosts the fuel capacity of the Legacy 450 from 12,108lbs to 13,058lbs to match the Legacy 500. The $21m Praetor 600 is based on the Legacy 500 with two tanks on the fuselage belly for 2,928lbs more fuel (giving a 15,986lb) capacity, and more powerful 7,528lbst Honeywell HTF7500E engines.

As a result of the new model introduction, Embraer has presented an opportunity to current Legacy 450s owners to upgrade to the Praetor 500 configuration for $500k

Worldwide Appeal

The total number of Legacy 450 aircraft built as of this writing was 50. Forty-one are in operation globally, 24 are wholly-owned, one is in shared ownership and 16 are in fractional ownership. Nine are at the factory awaiting delivery.

Of the Legacy 450 aircraft in operation by continent, North America has the largest percentage (79%), followed by Europe (17%) accounting for a combined total of 96% of the fleet. Sixty percent of the Legacy 450 jets in operation today are in fleet ownership with the largest fleet operator (Flexjet) owning 16 aircraft. Twenty percent of the Legacy 450s built are leased.

Payload & Range

The Legacy 450’s ‘Available Payload with Maximum Fuel’ (611lbs) is considerably less than that offered by the Legacy 500 (1,628lbs), as shown in Table A.

Summary

The Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 are both popular jets today, though we will watch with interest how the Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 impact their value on the used market after 2019. It will be especially interesting to note how many Legacy 450 owners decide to upgrade their aircraft to the Praetor 500 configuration.

Operators in the market should find the preceding comparison useful.

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