By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO Brazilian planemaker Embraer is confident it will meet its outlook for aircraft deliveries in 2023, seen growing by about a quarter, and expects to be able to maintain that pace next year, Chief Executive Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters.

He said he hopes Embraer's performance for the fourth quarter - typically one of its busiest periods for deliveries - will help it offset slower activity in early 2023. He noted that Embraer faces ongoing supply chain disruptions related to engines from Pratt & Whitney.

Gomes Neto also described the just-concluded quarter as "good," saying that volumes were in line with the planemaker's full-year plans. Embraer is set to announce its third quarter results next month.

The Brazilian company, the world's third-largest planemaker after Airbus and Boeing, expects deliveries in 2023 to jump as much as 25.8% to 200 jets, considering both its commercial and executive aviation units.

The outlook includes 65 to 70 commercial aircraft deliveries.

"The perspective is that we will reach that guidance we had announced," Gomes Neto said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry event in Sao Paulo. "Q2 and Q3 were good, which helps, but higher Q4 volumes will have to offset Q1, as we are still struggling a bit with supply chain issues."

Embraer had delivered 62 jets by the end of the second quarter: 24 commercial and 38 executive jets.

The company is working to better spread out deliveries throughout quarters next year and post another double-digit year-on-year growth, Gomes Neto said, although challenges exist especially when it comes to engine supply.

The executive had previously told Reuters there was a good chance Embraer would deliver 80 or more commercial aircraft next year and return to a level of 100 or more by 2025 or 2026.

"We are still finalizing our planning for next year, it's not ready yet and there is still no guidance, but we have the expectation that this year's growth will repeat next year," Gomes Neto said.

Several sales campaigns are ongoing, he added, with Embraer having recently announced the sale of E195-E2 planes to Luxembourg-based Luxair and E175 jets to Nigeria's Air Peace.

ENGINE CHALLENGES

Gomes Neto noted that Embraer has been working with RTX Corp unit Pratt & Whitney to overcome issues related to a production and quality crisis that is expected to ground 350 planes per year through 2026 as it pulls out engines off Airbus A320neo jets for lengthy inspections.

Embraer uses Pratt's Geared Turbofan engines on its latest E2 series of jets.

"We are not immune to this problem," Gomes Neto said. "But our aircraft is way lighter than the A320, lighter than the A220 and entered production later with an advanced engine setup, so it would struggle way less than other planes."

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Jonathan Oatis)