Bombardier received US certification for the Global Express ultra-long-range business jet on 13 November, fewer than three months after Canadian approval was given. European certification, the final key approval, is expected by the end of the year.
Interior completion work on the FIrst aircraft for delivery "is well advanced". Delivery to a US-based multinational corporation is due in the first quarter of next year.
The Global Express has been certificated to a maximum take-off weight of 42,400kg (93,500lb). It has a 12,000km (6,500nm) range and a maximum cruise speed of 500kt (935km/h).
The programme, launched in 1993, has cost Montreal-based Bombardier and its risk-sharing partners about $800 million. To date, the company has received more than 80 firm orders for the $35 million aircraft. It forecasts a potential market of 550-800 jets by 2010, however, with the Global Express claiming about 250.
Source: Flight International
