Gulfstream Aerospace is taking its GV business jet on a "whistle-stop" world tour to introduce the ultra-long-range aircraft to potential international customers, and has claimed in the process a series of non-stop distance records for a corporate jet.
The first leg of the tour, which takes in Europe and the Far East, covered a 8,728km (4,718nm) route from Los Angeles to London on 7 April. The Savannah, Georgia-based company describes this as the "first-ever [non-stop] LA-London flight by a business jet".
The subsequent stage of the trip, which Gulfstream vice-chairman Bryan Moss describes as a "wake-up call to company chief executives around the world", covered London-Hong Kong (9,560km) in a little over 12h, which Gulfstream claims as an "unofficial speed record for the route". The final leg of the tour will be the longest stretch, covering Tokyo-New York, a distance of 10,780km.
Moss says that Europe is one of the main target areas for GV promotional activity, and he has been "-pleasantly surprised by the level of interest in the aircraft in the region". He says that, traditionally, the Gulfstream customer base has shown a 75% dominance by North American operators, with only 15% in Europe and 10% in the rest of the world.
Moss says that the GV orderbook contains 70 firm sales, plus "one or two provisional orders, and a lot of activity in the pipeline". US Federal Aviation Administration certification for the GV was expected on 11 April.
Source: Flight International
