Gulfstream has clinched validation for its G280 business jet from the civil aviation authorities of China and Canada. The approval paves the way for the super-midsize aircraft - manufactured in Tel Aviv by Israel Aerospace Industries and completed in Savannah, Georgia, by Gulfstream - to be operated commercially in these countries,
China is a key market for Gulfstream, with an installed base of around 110 business jets and growing. Late last year the airframer opened a sales office and a service centre in Beijing as part of a joint venture with Hainan Airlines Group, Hainan Aviation Technik and Beijing Capital Airlines, owner of Chinese charter company Deer Jet.
In a nod to the huge potential for future business jet sales in China, the airframer in 2011 renamed the G250 the G280 in respect, it said, for cultural sensitivities. Flightglobal reported at the time that the number 250 can be translated into Mandarin as "stupid" or "idiotic".
Source: Flight International
