Bombardier launches G5500 and G6500

Bombardier G6500 at EBACE 2018 launch

Bombardier has just launched two new aircraft at EBACE – the Global 5500 and the Global  6500. Both are on track for certification and entry into service by the end of 2019. The manufacturer has been test flying the Global 6500 since the first quarter of the year and flew one of the test aircraft to Geneva on Saturday.

Rolls-Royce has developed two new Pearl engines for the aircraft and Bombardier has reprofiled the wings compared to its existing Global 5000 and Global 6000 aircraft. This means that the Global 5500 will be able to fly 5,700 nautical miles and the Global 6500 some 6,600 nautical miles.

These improvements also promise that the aircraft will have a 13% lower fuel burn. At the same time the Global 6500 has better hot and short-runway performances. Bombardier says that it will be able to fly from Toluca in Mexico to Madrid in Spain.

Both versions will have new upgraded avionics packages with both ADS-B-In and ADS-B-out ready for future air traffic control systems. The new aircraft will also have brand new interiors – using technology from its upcoming Global 7000 (which will now be renamed the Global 7500 programme). Passengers will get more comfortable seats including being able to turn them to face in any direction. 

The G5500 will have a list price of $46 million and the G6500 $56 million. These list prices and the speed at which Bombardier aims to have the aircraft approved means that the Canadian manufacturer is now directly taking on Gulfstream’s G500 and G600 aircraft.