G700 Touches Down In Dubai

Gulfstream Aerospace recently showcased its forthcoming ultra-long-range, five-cabin-zone G700 flagship in Dubai. Gulfstream claims the aircraft is the tallest (six feet, three inches; 1.90 meters) and widest (eight feet, two inches; 2.49 meters) cabin in a purpose-built business jet. The 500-nautical-mile G700 is expected to enter service in mid-2023.

The G700 features a corporate-configured cabin along with what Gulfstream terms an “ultra-galley” with more than 10 feet of counter space; a grand suite with a fixed bed and bright, spacious lavatory with shower; a circadian lighting system; and new seat design. 

The twinjet arrived in Dubai during a world tour aimed at demonstrating the precocious maturity of the aircraft model, which has been in flight testing since early 2020. Gulfstream’s G700 tour began following the aircraft’s October debut in Orlando, Florida and includes some 20 cities on six continents.

With a Mach 0.85 long-range cruise speed and Mach 0.90 high-speed cruise, the G700 set eight international city-pair speed records during flight tests and established another on this tour for a flight from Istanbul to Van Don, Vietnam, where the model had its Asia-Pacific debut last month at an event hosted by the Gulfstream sales representative Sun Air.

The G700 inherits the flagship mantle from Gulfstream’s bestselling G650/650ER, which has a shorter fuselage. Next up is its longer-range (8,000-nautical-mile) sibling, the G800, with the same fuselage as the G650, and this will follow the G700 into service within six months. But certification of both was delayed due to new Federal Aviation Administration software validation requirements for the digital flight control system.

Phebe Novakovic, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, said in late October that the company believes “we will certify [the G700] this upcoming summer, but much depends on available FAA resources.

“When we give you sort of our best guess on when the certification is, that’s a result of a lot of things that we control and that we can talk about with certainty,” she said, “but ultimately, this is an FAA issue, and it’s the availability of their resources, and they are the regulator and they’re going to control it.”

The FAA started the type inspection authorization process for the validation in early October. Novakovic noted that the company and regulators have “cooperated very well,” that the software system makes this “the most mature aircraft to enter the FAA certification process,” and that internal testing preceding the FAA review revealed no issues that would delay approval.

Meanwhile, Gulfstream is also developing the G400, introduced last October as “the first new entrant to the large-cabin class in more than a decade,” according to the company. Gulfstream expects it to enter service in 2025 and says it will offer a range of 4,200 nautical miles at Mach 0.85 or 3,950 nautical miles at high-speed cruise of Mach 0.88. The first flight is scheduled for early next year.

While the G500 and G600 are follow-ons, respectively, to the G450 and G550, the G400 fills a slot in the Gulfstream lineup as a slightly larger, more advanced alternative to the super-midsize G280, “conceived and designed with direct customer input,” according to the company. It offers what Gulfstream calls “long-range, high-speed performance; cabin comfort; and environmental efficiency unrivaled in its class,” along with a 30 percent gain in fuel efficiency over the G450.