business jet

Airborne: The New $9 Million Cessna CJ4

Filed under: Wings

Despite some recent troubles as reported by my colleague Deirdre Woollard, Cessna is finally set to begin deliveries of its long-awaited $9 million Citation CJ4 light business jet later this year, featuring improved performance and the company's most stylishly decorated and ergonomically designed cabin ever. Electronically-controlled twin Williams-Rolls FJ44-4A turbofan engines allow for a maximum cruising speed of 500 mph at 35,000 ft. and are quiet and fuel efficient. New swept-back wings borrowed from the Cessna Sovereign help out on aerodynamics for short takeoffs, quick climbs and improved acceleration. Plush new "luxury sedan" style seats and a new sidewall configuration provide more leg, seat and shoulder room. It's also outfitted like a high-end media room thanks to its revolutionary Venue Cabin Management System with amenities such as XM radio, CD and hi-def Blu-Ray DVD player, seat monitors, moving maps and input stations for MP3 players, gaming systems and more.

[via JamesList]

Gallery: Cessna CJ4

Tags: business jet, Cessna, citation cj4, jet, private jet

Four Reasons Business Jets Are Back in Style

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wings

Private jet travel is back! When we were in the depths of the financial crisis, the best way to fly was a sure way to attract criticism, especially when the Detroit auto executives showed up before Congress a year ago and had to explain why ailing companies were forced to shell out for the perk. Well, the private jets are coming back into style, but it's more for pleasure than business.

Business jet manufacturers delivered only 615 in the first three quarters of 2009, a steep decline of 37.8 percent year-over-year, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. According to Jack Petlon, CEO of Cessna, though, there are signs of life. "With the financial collapse that occurred there was a lot of anger, a lot of hurt, a lot of people reaching out and striking at what became an image and the image was a corporate business jet," he told Forbes. He continued, "We as an industry are now spending our time righting that wrong perception."

Here are four facts you may not have know about business (and private) aviation:

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Tags: business, business jet, business jets, BusinessJet, BusinessJets, cessna, congress, National Business Aviation Association, NationalBusinessAviationAssociation, private jet, private plane, PrivateJet, PrivatePlane

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Gulfstream Shows Off G650 Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

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.

Gallery: Gulfstream 650

[via Upscale Swagger]

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Tags: business jet, BusinessJet, g650, gulfstream, jet, private jet, PrivateJet

Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350i

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

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.

Tags: Beechcraft, business jet, BusinessJet, Hawker, Hawker Beechcraft, HawkerBeechcraft, jet, plane, private jet, private plane, PrivateJet, PrivatePlane, turboprop

British Airways Buys L'Avion

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

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.

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Tags: airline, airlne, british airways, BritishAirways, business jet, BusinessJet, lavion, open skies, OpenSkies

Hawker Beechcraft Launches Latest Business Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Aero-News Network is reporting from the 8th Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition where Hawker Beechcraft Corporation just launched their latest business jet, the Beechcraft Premier II light jet. The Premier II is the next step up from the Premier IA and is a twin turbofan, swept wing, light jet aircraft that will have a 20 percent longer range with four passengers and an increased payload. It offers a medium-jet sized cabin at light jet costs, holding up to six passengers and their luggage. The planes will use new FJ44-3AP turbofan engines from Williams International which offer more than 23 percent more thrust from the Premier IA. Combined with new elliptical winglets which offer reduced drag, the new engines let the business jets hit a maximum cruising altitude of 45,000 feet and fly farther. The first flight is scheduled for a year from now with FAA certification planned for the middle of 2010.

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Tags: business jet, hawker beechcraft, HawkerBeechcraft, light aircraft

Eos Airlines Files For Bankruptcy

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

When MAXJet, one of the airlines doing the London to New York business class flights folded last December I wondered who might be next. Now it seems that the answer is Eos Airlines. The NY Times reports that the company has stopped flights and filed for bankruptcy protection. When MAXJet stopped operations it was Eos that picked up their stranded passengers. Eos ran their final flights on Sunday.

In February, British Airways announced a new business-class service from London to New York. The airline has two Airbus A318 to service the new route, fitting them with lie flat beds for 31 passengers. They will likely be competing against Silverjet, the remaining small carrier doing business flights from London to New York. Eos had offered flights on Boeing 757s reconfigured with 48 seats that turned into flat beds. The flights offered gourmet foods and wines and individual DVD players at the seats for prices ranging from $3,500 to $9,000 roundtrip. The airline was a success but was simply not making enough money and failed to raise a necessary $50 million additional financing to help pay debts.

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Tags: airline, business jet, eos, plane, silverjet

Supersonic Business Jet Has A Long Waiting List

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

We've been hearing about the Aerion supersonic business jet for a while now but it looks like plans for the jet, which can hit Mach 1.6, are moving ahead full steam. The manufacturer has announced that it has letters of intent worth $1.5 billion from customers interested in paying $80 million for the plane. Their first customer is the Pakistan-based Princely Jets.

The supersonic jet can go more than 4000 nautical miles offering eight to 12 passengers a luxurious ride. It can zoom across the Atlantic from New York to Paris in four and a quarter hours. The streamlined design reduces the area of high drag airflow. The cabin will have LCD lights, personal comfort zones and recliner seats with three separate seating areas with a galley and toilet.

The initial deposit for the jet is $250,000. The company estimates that over two decades it could sell more than 500 jets, with about a fifth coming from the fractional business jet market. The jet should be entered into service by 2014.

[via The Australian]

Gallery: Aerion Jet

Tags: aerion, business jet, private jet, supersonic jet

Austrian Airlines Gets Into The Private Jet Business

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Austrian Airlines has become the latest carrier to get into the private jet business. They have established a partnership with JetAlliance to deliver private jet flights for their Business Class passengers anywhere throughout Europe to Vienna International Airport with only two days notice. The service insures that you can then board your long-haul connection without waiting, passing through a separate passport and security control and proceeding directly to the aircraft. Passengers also have the option of being delivered to the aircraft in an Austrian Business Jet limo. The Vienna Airport VIP Lounge and JetAlliance VIP lounge are also both available to travelers.

[via Private Jet Daily]

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Tags: austrian airlines, AustrianAirlines, business jet, jetalliance, private jet