ADVERTISEMENT

Gulfstream Signals New Luxury-Jet Unveiling at Mystery Event

Gulfstream is signaling that it will reveal a new aircraft design on Oct. 21 at a private-jet conference in Las Vegas.

Gulfstream Signals New Luxury-Jet Unveiling at Mystery Event
The interior of a Gulfstream G500 executive jet, operated by Qatar Airways, sits on display on the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) 2018 in Farnborough, U.K. (Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Gulfstream is signaling that it will reveal a new aircraft design on Oct. 21 at a private-jet conference in Las Vegas.

“History is made by those who dare,” Gulfstream said Friday in an invitation to the event. “Please join us for the biggest announcement in business aviation.”

The corporate-jet unit of General Dynamics Corp. is touting the event less than a year after its G650 was upstaged by Bombardier Inc.’s Global 7500 as the biggest and longest-range private plane. Gulfstream had held that crown since the G650 aircraft first flew in 2012.

There are several possibilities for the new aircraft at Gulfstream, which recently finished refreshing the middle of its product lineup with the G500 and G600.

The planemaker may offer a larger jet based on the existing G650 airframe, which would reduce the investment and time needed to bring the new model to market. Or the company could create a big new aircraft from scratch, known as a clean-sheet design.

Another possibility: filling a hole in the product lineup between Gulfstream’s smallest aircraft, the G280, and the G500, after the company stopped production of the G450 last year. There’s even an outside chance that both a smaller jet and a larger model are announced at the event.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Dallas at tblack@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Susan Warren

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.