Gulfstream, the US manufacturer of luxury jets, unveiled the world's largest private plane – a challenge to rival Bombardier's Global G7500 jet in a market struggling with weak demand as companies cut costs.
The long-awaited G700 corporate jet, powered by Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines, will be delivered to its first customers in 2022, Gulfstream said on Monday.
The business jet, priced at $75 million (Dh275m), will have the "tallest, widest and longest cabin in the industry" and will seat 19 passengers for long-haul flights, the company based in Savannah said.
Gulfstream introduced its new plane on the eve of the National Business Aviation Association Convention and Exhibition, an industry event in Las Vegas, on Monday. The plane maker will make a more spacious version of its flagship G650, which lost bragging rights of the largest luxury jet last year to Bombardier's Global 7500.
Gulfstream unveiled the jet on projections that it will attract wealthy travellers with a larger cabin and longer range. The G700 can fly 7,500 nautical miles or 13,890 kilometres at Mach 0.85.
Flexjet was named as the first North American customer, but Gulfstream did not provide an order number.
The launch of the largest private jet is set against a backdrop of a slowdown in the global economy, uncertainty stemming from the US-China trade dispute and the UK's looming break up from the European Union – factors that may soften demand for luxury planes as companies cut back on flying executives aboard private jets.
A slowdown in orders could cause deliveries to begin flagging in 2021, according to a research by Honeywell International.
