FLUG REVUE October 2003: Mid-size business jets are big business

MARKET S URVEY: MIDSIZE BUSINESS-JETS

By Volker K. Thomalla

Honeywell Aerospace of Phoenix, Arizona, is forecasting a market potential of between 6,900 and 7,400 new business jets, worth between $101 and $108 billion, in the period 2003 to 2012. The greater part of these sales are expected to be business jets in the midsize and super-midsize classes. These tools of business travel have become popular with users, as they offer an attractive trade-off between purchase price, maintenance costs, comfort and performance. In Europe too, these aircraft have made significant inroads into the business travel market. As well as the classic executive charter companies, users of midsize jets include companies with a high volume of travel.

Seven models produced by four manufacturers are vying for customers in the midsize business jet class. All the aircraft types in this market survey are powered by turbofans and fall within the weight class 10,000-17,000kg.

Of these, the Hawker 800XP can look back on the longest tradition. This twin-engined jet was originally a member of the Hawker Siddeley HS-125 family and was taken over by Raytheon Aircraft at the beginning of the 1990s. Today the aircraft is built in Wichita, Kansas and also enjoys considerable popularity among fractional ownership companies like NetJets and FlightOptions. The aircraft is a best-seller and enjoys regular upgrades under a rolling modernisation programme operated by Raytheon Aircraft. The last update concentrated on the cockpit, which is now fitted with the Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite and boasts four large flat-panel displays.

The Learjet 60 is also state-of-the-art, even though thirteen years have passed since its maiden flight. Learjet, a subsidiary of Bombardier, builds the twin-engined jet at Midcontinent Airport, Wichita. With an operating weight of 6,461kg, it is one of the lightest planes in its class.

Bombardier's second type in the midsize jet class is the Challenger 300. This twin-engined business jet was developed under the brand

name of Bombardier Continental, but was renamed the “Challenger 300” prior to its certification in Canada on 30 May 2003. FAA certification followed five days later and was announced at the Paris Air Show. The engine selected by Bombardier to power the aircraft is the brand new AS907 from Honeywell. The order backlog for the $17.8 million aircraft stands at 125 firm orders. First deliveries are scheduled for the third quarter of 2003.

Raytheon's second offering after the Hawker 800XP is not currently as far advanced. The Hawker Horizon is almost six metres longer than the 800XP and weighs over 2,000kg more. This extra weight allows the new jet to fly an additional 1,500km non-stop. The Horizon is also an interesting business jet from a technological point of view since it is the second jet after the Raytheon Premier I to have a carbon fibre fuselage and aluminium wings. Thanks to the use of composites, Raytheon has succeeded in creating more space in the cabin interior than would be possible using a conventional metal construction, in which ribs and spars eat into the available cabin size.

The Horizon was announced at NBAA 1996 in Orlando. At that time it was still assumed that it would be possible for the launch customers to take delivery of their aircraft at the end of 2001. The programme experienced considerable slippage, and deliveries are not now expected to commence until after certification in 2004.

Also en route to certification is the Citation Sovereign, the business jet with the largest cabin ever to have left Cessna's factories in Wichita. The Sovereign was unveiled at NBAA 1998 as one of four new types from the Cessna Aircraft Company. On 27 February 2002, it took to the air for the first time, powered by two PW306C turbofans from Pratt & Whitney Canada. The Primus Epic avionics suite, one of the most modern of its kind, takes pride of place in the cockpit of the $13.2 million “business travel tool”. The risk that Cessna took in developing the aircraft has paid off, with the orderbook currently standing at over 100. Certification by the US FAA is expected at the end of 2003, and the first owners will be able to collect their aircraft from Wichita immediately after that. Cessna has also received some orders from Germany for the new Citation.

On the other hand the Citation X – also from the Cessna stable – was certified back on 3 June 1996. Powered by two Rolls-Royce AE3007 turbofans, this business jet has held its own, as it embodies what Business Aviation is all about: speed. Once British Airways has retired the last Concorde in October 2003, the Cessna Citation X will be the fastest civil aircraft in the world. Within the space of only three years after the first Citation X was handed over to the golfer and Citation pilot, Arnold Palmer, the 100th Citation X had already been built. To date over 200 aircraft of this type have now left the Wichita factories. It is not only in the matter of speed that the Citation X is in the lead, but its price is also extremely attractive: depending on the equipment configuration chosen, a Citation X today costs around $19 million.

The Gulfstream G200 has had a chequered career. Originally it was launched under the name “Galaxy” as a joint programme by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Yakovlev. Then when the Russians pulled out, a separate company, Galaxy Aerospace, was founded to market the Galaxy and Astra business jets. But in 2001, Gulfstream Aerospace took over the programmes, incorporating them into its successful Gulfstream business jet family so as to be able to offer a larger product portfolio alongside its long-range and ultra-long-range jets. The change of ownership has worked out well, and, thanks to Gulfstream, it is now much better placed on the market than before. Powered by two PW306A engines, the aircraft boasts the tallest cabin of all the midsize jets, at 2.18m. Moreover, it can fly non-stop for over 6,660km, a feat that no other aircraft in this class presently offers.

From page 34 of FLUG REVUE 10/2003

Last updated 1 September 2003

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