SAVANNAH — Gulfstream’s new flagship aircraft, the $79 million G700, is nearing certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and should enter into service around the new year.
Flight test models of the Savannah-based business aviation manufacturer’s latest airplane have “a couple more” FAA test flights to go and the model should certify before year’s end, Gulfstream President Mark Burns said Tuesday during a ceremony to celebration the expansion of a manufacturing building on the luxury jetmaker’s Savannah campus. Certification will clear the way for customer deliveries, with at least 19 aircraft ready to go into service.
Customers for Gulfstream’s private aircraft include corporations, wealthy individuals, governments and plane-sharing services such as NetJets.
The G700 and Gulfstream are critical pieces of Georgia’s aerospace ecosystem. Gulfstream is Georgia’s largest manufacturer, with more than 12,000 employees in Savannah and another 350 maintenance staffers at an aircraft maintenance center in Brunswick. According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Gulfstream aircraft and other aerospace products ranked as the state’s top export in 2022.
Burns’ comments reflect those made last week by a top executive of Gulfstream’s parent company, General Dynamics, on a third quarter earnings call. General Dynamics CFO Jason Aiken said 19 G700 deliveries is what Gulfstream “is striving to get to” before 2023′s end.
“Our rigorous test program has produced a very mature aircraft,” Burns said Tuesday. “We’re really close.”
The G700 update came during a ceremony marking the addition of 142,000 square feet to the building where workers assemble three of Gulfstream aircraft, the G600, G500 and the still-in-development G400. The airplanes are similar — all three are based on the same design, with the length of the fuselage as the major difference.
The expansion increases capacity ahead of full production of the G400, which will begin flight testing next year.
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Gulfstream has a third aircraft, the G800, in development as well. Flight testing on the model, which has the ability to fly from Dallas to Hong Kong nonstop, began in June 2022 and certification is projected for next year.
Once the G700, G800 and G400 enter into service, Gulfstream’s fleet will include seven aircraft models of various sizes and ranges. Burns referred to the strategy as “a Gulfstream for every customer mission.”
Savannah has been Gulfstream’s home since 1967 and boasts a sprawling campus adjacent to the city’s airport comprised of assembly facilities, maintenance and service centers, research and development labs and offices. Only one Gulfstream aircraft model, the G280, is manufactured outside Savannah. The G280 is a Gulfstream-designed jet manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries at a factory outside Tel Aviv.
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns helped cut the ribbon on the expanded manufacturing facility on Tuesday and said Gulfstream is “woven into the fabric” of the Savannah region and the state.
“Gulfstream and its innovations are Savannah and Georgia born and bred,” said Speaker Burns, a Republican who represents a Savannah-area district.
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