Don't count the private jet industry out yet, there are still plenty of jets planned to hit the market when the economy gets sunnier. Gulfstream just unveiled their new flagship business jet, the Gulfstream G650, at company headquarters in Savannah. The aircraft was first announced in March 2008 and will start customer deliveries in 2012. Around 7,000 people gathered at the new G650 manufacturing building for the grand unveiling of the ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range jet. The G650 offers the longest range, fastest speed, largest cabin and the most advanced cockpit in the Gulfstream fleet and can travel 7,000 nautical miles at 0.85 Mach with a maximum operating speed of 0.925, which will make it the fastest civil aircraft flying. It can also climb to an altitude of 51,000 feet, which allows it to avoid traffic and inclement weather for a smoother ride. The aircraft seats 11-18 passengers and has 16 panoramic windows and in-flight access to 195 cubic feet of usable volume in the baggage compartment. A first flight is planned for later this year and it is expected to be certified in 2011.

Aero-News Network reports that among the attendees was Congressman Jack Kingston (R), who talked about the jobs associated with the manufacture of the Gulfstream line. "There may be some members of Congress who had their doubts about corporate jet travel," he told the crowd, "I am not one of them."

UPDATE: Re: questions on price it should be around $65 million.



[via Upscale Swagger]

The new Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350i (above) is an updated, luxury version of a turboprop plane that's been a big seller since 1964. The economic crisis has caused many corporations to consider swapping expensive jets for more efficient and less costly turboprops like the classic King Air. Beechcraft has added in luxury features and finishes found on much more expensive Hawker business jets to make the $6.6 million King Air 350i a competitive choice. It's billed as is the most luxurious, most comfortable and most capable turbine aircraft ever offered in its class, period. The company compares it to a Range Rover - very refined with rugged underpinnings and exemplary safety features. With the most flexible and technologically advanced cabin ever introduced in a twin turboprop, the plane can ferry 9 passengers in the morning and then be reconfigured into an ultra-luxe VIP shuttle for 2 that same afternoon.

The three business-class-only airlines that flew out of the U.K. to New York (MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet) are all now history but the last outlier, Paris-based L'Avion is still around. For now. British Airways has snapped up the French all-business airline l'Avion for 54 million pounds ($107 million). The privately owned airline flies two Boeing 757 aircraft with 90 seats each between Paris and New York.

Once the deal is done, l'Avion will become a subsidiary of British airways and become part of Open Skies, their transatlantic airline. Open Skies operates with its own crew and pilots (there is only one aircraft so far). Open Skies planes have 24 seats that convert into beds, 28 in premium economy and 30 in economy making it closer to the l'Avion model than traditional British Airways flights.

Marketwatch speculates that it may be possible that l'Avion, like the other business-class airlines was hardly a moneymaker and may have never turned a profit.