Gulfstream’s G800 has a range of 8,200 nm.
Gulfstream’s new G800 ultra-long-range business jet has earned FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification, with performance improvements above earlier projections.
The certifications pave the way for first deliveries to commence.
Gulfstream Aerospace unveiled the 8,200-nm-range G800 along with the G400 large-cabin aircraft on Oct. 4, 2021, in a ceremony at its Savannah, Georgia, headquarters. The G800 made its first flight in June 2022.
“With the certification of the G800, Gulfstream has again exceeded expectations thanks to the expertise and rigor of our flight test, certification and manufacturing teams,” says Mark Burns, Gulfstream president. “The G800 marks the latest evolution of business aviation as we continue to build the next-generation fleet and bring industry-leading performance and efficiency to the market. With the capability enhancements we have achieved, Gulfstream customers will greatly benefit from the increased flexibility and range the G800 offers.”
Gulfstream expected FAA and EASA certification late in the first half of 2025 or early in the second half, TD Cowen analysts said in a note to investors, calling the April approvals “a positive surprise.”
The G800 will replace Gulfstream’s G650. Gulfstream’s 2025 delivery guidance assumes the year’s deliveries of the G650 and G800 will together equal the number of G650 deliveries in 2024, the analysts noted. “Early G800 certification reduces the ‘bathtub’ risk of the 650 to the 800 transition,” the note says, “which means [parent company General Dynamics’] 2025 Gulfstream guide is more plausible than we previously thought.”
In a party at Gulfstream’s New York design and sales office celebrating the G800’s certification, Burns said that the first G800 will be delivered in the next few weeks.
“This is expected to be a smooth entry into service, and we have some reason to believe that we can exceed our planned deliveries of G800,” Phebe Novakovic, chair and CEO of General Dynamics, Gulfstream’s parent company, told analysts in a call about the company’s first quarter financial results. Gulfstream plans to deliver the last G650 during the second quarter of 2025.
Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu expects Gulfstream to deliver five G800 aircraft in 2025.
During the first quarter, Gulfstream said it delivered 36 business jets, including 30 large-cabin and six midsize cabin business jets, up from 24 a year ago, including 21 large-cabin and three midsize cabin jets.
For performance, the G800 beat earlier projections in range, top speed and landing distances, the company announced, which means the G800 is open to “more potential destinations (and thus customers) than previously contemplated,” TD Cowen’s note says.
The G800, with an Aviation Week BCA-equipped retail price of $76.5 million, can travel 8,200 nm at a long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85, up 200 nm over original expectations. The aircraft can travel 7,000 nm at its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90 and 8,000 nm at Mach 0.87. Its maximum operating speed has increased from Mach 0.925 to Mach 0.935. The aircraft was also certified with a balanced field length takeoff distance of 5,812 ft. and a landing distance of 3,105 ft., both shorter than originally announced, the company says.
Its cabin can be configured for up to four living areas or three living areas with a dedicated crew compartment. The aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines.
Certification is a “clear positive,” TD Cowen says, although “the Trump tariff policy and retaliatory tariffs from foreign nations against the U.S. raises demand concerns for new Gulfstream aircraft,” TD Cowen analysts wrote in its note to investors.
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