Bombardier has started manufacturing major structural components for the first production example of its ultra-long-range Global 8000, a business jet that is set to succeed the Global 7500 as the Montreal airframer’s flagship.
Meanwhile, the company continues working to significantly grow its services and defence businesses, aiming for those sectors to generate 50% of revenue by 2030.
“Despite all the great things we have in the 7500… our engineers have pushed the limit even farther,” Bombardier chief executive Eric Martel said of the Global 8000 at a press conference at NBAA BACE on 21 October. “Flight testing is progressing to plan. We are on track for the entry into service as early as next year.”
Bombardier has started manufacturing structural components for the first production example of the Global 8000 at facilities in Saint-Laurent in Montreal, Red Oak in Texas and Queretaro in Mexico. Martel notes that the wings are taking shape in Red Oak, and the rear fuselage is being assembled in Queretaro.
“The manufacturing process for what will be the industry’s fastest business jet – the impressive ultra-long-range Global 8000 – has begun,” says Bombardier executive vice-president of manufacturing and IT David Murray. “Our engineering and production teams continue to demonstrate unmatched levels of expertise, pride and innovation.”
Bombardier assembles Globals at its recently opened facility at Toronto Pearson International airport.
Launched in 2022, the 8,000nm (14,816km)-range Global 8000 will be capable of flying routes including Dubai-Houston, Singapore-Los Angeles and London-Perth. The 8000 builds on the current Global 7500, using the same wing, fuselage and GE Aerospace Passport engines.
Bombardier completed the first Global 8000 flight in May 2023.
The 19-passenger aircraft can fly at speeds up to Mach 0.94, and at 51,000ft. The jet has fly-by-wire flight controls, cockpit side sticks, head-up displays, enhanced vision systems and synthetic visions systems.
“Our customers will soon be able to step aboard an aircraft that sets the standard as the fastest and longest-range purpose-built business aircraft in history, allowing them to reach destinations farther and faster than ever before,” says Bombardier executive vice-president of aircraft sales and defence Jean-Christophe Gallagher.
The Global 8000 is a long time coming.
Bombardier revealed development of the jet and its then-sister ship, the Global 7000, in 2010. In 2018, the company upped the 7000’s range and renamed that aircraft the Global 7500. Seemingly little progress was made on the 8000 until Bombardier launched development four years later.
The team has completed about 300h of Global 8000 flight testing, says Bombardier executive vice-president of engineering and product development Stephen McCullough. “We are getting very close to the conclusion… The aircraft is behaving flawlessly.”
The company, which several years ago spun off its commercial aircraft business and its rail division, expects to achieve revenue of more than $9 billion annually by 2025, up from $8 billion in 2023.
Bombardier has been seeking to significantly boost revenue from sales of aftermarket services and of militarised variants of its business jets. The company has opened new service centres at Farnborough, Opa-Locka near Miami, and Singapore.
In 2020, Bombardier’s services and defence sales accounted for 28% of its revenue, though it plans for that figure to hit half of revenue by 2030.
