The Bombardier Global Express is a large cabin, long-range

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking coworker, associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more ...

designed and manufactured by

Bombardier Aviation Bombardier Aviation, a division of Bombardier Inc., is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The company currently produces the Bombardier Global Express, Global and Bombardier Challenger 600, Challenger series of Business jet, business je ...

. Announced in October 1991, it first flew in October 1996, received its Canadian type certification in July 1998 and entered service in July 1999. Initially powered by two BMW/Rolls-Royce BR710s, it shares its fuselage cross section with the Canadair Regional Jet and Challenger 600 with a new wing and tail. The shorter range Global 5000 is slightly smaller. The XRS is an improved version of the Global Express and the Global 6000 is an upgrade to the XRS that replaces the older avionics. The longer range Global 5500/6500 are powered by new

Rolls-Royce Pearl The Rolls-Royce BR700 is a family of turbofan engines for regional jets and corporate jets. It is manufactured in Dahlewitz, Germany, by Rolls-Royce Deutschland: this was initially a joint venture of BMW and Rolls-Royce plc established in 1990 t ...

engines with lower fuel burn and were unveiled in May 2018. The larger and stretched Global 7500/8000 have longer ranges.

Development

Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express AN1172942

Project definition

After acquiring

Canadair Canadair Ltd. was a Canadian civil and military aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1944 to 1986. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadai ...

along with its Challenger 600 business jet in 1986, Bombardier studied a longer range

business aircraft Business aircraft are aircraft typically used by companies and corporations to transport people or goods related to the needs of said businesses. Most business aircraft are general aviation aircraft variants of piston or turboprop or busin ...

in which it aimed to carry eight passengers and four crew over 12,000 km (6,500 nmi) at

Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...

0.85. To meet this goal, a joint-definition team was established at the company's

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

facility in the early 1990s. By 1994, the team comprised 200 engineers, evenly divided between Canadair and various partners, including Japanese company

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...

and Anglo-German engine manufacturer BMW Rolls-Royce.Warwick, Graham
"Global Expertise."
''Flight International'', 10 August 1994. pp. 42-44. These partners independently designed their own elements of the aircraft and shared a stake in the program. The choice of suppliers influenced the aircraft design, with its various systems being selected before the detailed design phase. The

CATIA CATIA (, an acronym of computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application) is a multi-platform software suite for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), 3D modeling and product li ...

software was used for the

kinematics In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with s ...

, to feed finite-element analysis software for structural design, and

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

software for aerodynamics, the latter being confirmed by

wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

testing. The new aircraft was designed to use the minimum number of components while still ensuring that no single failure would result in a diversion or the inability to dispatch a flight. Bombardier worked towards a 99.5% dispatch reliability goal. As operators sought a level of safety enjoyed by airline aircraft, Bombardier was influenced to use design rules, such as the incorporation of a maintenance computer to detect, indicate, and isolate faults, although ETOPS rules were not a design requirement. A conventional mechanical

flight control system A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system (AFCS) consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. ...

was selected in the new aircraft design instead of

fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...

. This was mainly due to the high development expense and customer apprehension of

Launch and flight testing

In October 1991, the Global Express was unveiled at the convention. In December 1993, the programme was launched. In June 1994, its high-speed configuration was frozen while the low-speed configuration was established in August 1994. By then, most critical design decisions were taken and almost all suppliers had been selected. In January 1995, the definition phase was winding down before detailed design. By June 1995, the backlog was over 40 aircraft, sold out until 2000, leading to Bombardier to expand its early production plans. At launch, range was extended to to outdo rival Gulfstream. Bombardier guaranteed the empty weight and range to reply to Gulfstream criticism.Warwick, Graham
"Corporate war flares up over business jets."
''Flight International'', 4 October 1995. Around 100 sales were needed to cover the development costs. In October 1995, the first prototype manufacture began. The first sections were expected in December at de Havilland's in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, with final assembly to start in March 1996. By June 1996, the prototype was complete and conducting flight-readiness reviews ahead of its roll-out and first flight. On 13 October 1996, the first prototype performed its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

from Toronto, one month later than planned, lasting for 2 hours 46 minutes and attaining and . The flight test programme used four prototypes, accumulating 2,200 flight hours. The Bombardier Flight Test Center in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

was extended by for the test programme. In February 1997, the second prototype made its first flight and the third in May 1997. In late 1995, type certification was forecast for March 1998. In July 1998, Canadian type certification was granted. European and US approvals followed shortly thereafter. The first 15 aircraft were to be delivered before January 1999. The Global Express entered service in July 1999.

Production

Since 2023, the Global Express has been assembled at the

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, and formerly at Downsview Airport in

. Since 2012, Japanese aerospace firm

has built the wing and centre fuselage sections at its Toronto facility located east of the airport on Northwest Drive, and formerly at 2025 Meadowvale Boulevard from 2007 to 2012. Bombardier subsidiaries involved are

as the design leader and nose manufacturer;

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

for the engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

s design and manufacture, horizontal stabiliser and forward

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

; and

de Havilland Canada De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC) is a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that has produced numerous aircraft models since its inception including the popular De Havilland Canada Dash 8, Dash 8. The company's primary facilities were loca ...

for the rear fuselage, vertical tail and final assembly. The

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

is produced by Dowty, flight controls by Sextant Avionique, the fuel system by Parker Bertea Aerospace, the core avionics by

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...

, the APU by

AlliedSignal AlliedSignal, Inc. was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company, created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and The Signal Companies. It purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and adopted the Honeywell name and iden ...

, the electrical system by

Lucas Aerospace Lucas Industries plc, now known as Lucas Automotive, is one of the world’s oldest continuously trading automotive brands, tracing its origins to 1875 and the first patent issued to its founder, Joseph Lucas. Based originally in Birmingham, t ...

, and the air management system by ABG-Semca. In May 2015, production was reduced because of lower demand, caused by slowing economy and geopolitics in Latin America, Russia and China markets. By October 2018, Bombardier had a backlog of 202 aircraft valued at C$14.1 billion ($11 billion), including 128 Global Express aircraft: 67 Global 5000/6000 and four Global 5500/6500. The Global Express program cost $800 million.

Design

The Global Express is a high speed business/corporate aircraft with a range of at , a service ceiling and a 14 hours endurance. The semi monocoque

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

is made of lightweight aluminum alloys and composite materials. It has a low wing,

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and fuselage-mounted engines. The clean-sheet design draws upon the earlier Canadair CL-600 and

Bombardier CRJ The Bombardier CRJ/Mitsubishi CRJ or CRJ Series (for Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ gene ...

. It shares its

cross-section with these aircraft, paired with a new

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage wikt:configuration, configuration in which the tailplane of an aircraft is mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer, fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs fr ...

and wing. The latter is a supercritical airfoil with a 35° wing sweep and

winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

s. This flexible wing naturally attenuates

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

. It was initially powered by two BMW- Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofans controlled by

FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or " engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of a ...

. The flightdeck features a six screen

Honeywell Primus Honeywell Primus is a range of Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) glass cockpits manufactured by Honeywell Aerospace. Each system is composed of multiple display units used as primary flight display and multi-function display. Primus ...

2000XP EFIS suite. The Global Express was the business jet with the largest cabin, until being surpassed by the later

Gulfstream G650 The Gulfstream G650, G700, and G800 are large Business jet, business jets produced by the American company Gulfstream Aerospace.galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

, crew rest chair and crew lavatory. The 10.3-psi

cabin pressurization Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the aircraft cabin, cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for humans flying at high altitudes. For aircraft, this air i ...

maintains a 4,500-ft. cabin altitude up to FL 450 and 5,680 ft. at the FL 510 ceiling. The cabin has an unobstructed length of while the floor is dropped by from the Challenger to increase width at shoulder level, while the windows have been repositioned and enlarged by 25%.

Variants

Global 5000

The Global 5000 was announced in October 2001. It was launched in February 2002, with letters of intent for 15 aircraft with a MTOW, and a range at Mach 0.85. The first aircraft flew on 7 March 2003. It was introduced in April 2005. There were 224 in service in 2018. In April 2008, Bombardier lifted its MTOW to to increase its Mach 0.85 range to . Its cabin is shorter than the Global 6000 with a lower MTOW depending on service bulletins. It has a range at . The spec

basic operating weight Empty weight (EW) is the sum of the ‘as built’ manufacturer's empty weight (MEW), plus any standard items (SI) plus any operator items (OI), EW = MEW + SI + OI. The EW is calculated for each aircraft series and each unique configuration of an ...

is but are actually closer to . Early models kept the

2000XP avionics, updated with the Bombardier Vision flight deck based on the

Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...

Pro Line Fusion avionics since 2012. It can carry between 8 and 19 passengers. The new seat converts to a full berth. There is an optional private room aft and the galley has room to prepare 16 five-course meals. It was priced at $40M in 2008. It has forward and aft lavatories. The crew rest area was removed, but could be restored. The tail fuel tank was removed and fuel is limited in the wings. Some avionics are rearranged to gain usable cabin length. The interior completions allowance is 3,200 kg. In 2018, its unit cost was US$50.44 million. At high-speed cruise, it burns of fuel in the first hour, then the second hour and for the third hour. In 2018, Early models with Honeywell avionics were sold for $10–20 million, while post-2012 aircraft with the modern Cockpit can fetch $22–36 million. A major inspection every 180 months cost $800,000-1.2 million. Two 8,000h engine overhauls can cost $4 million. The cheaper and more efficient Gulfstream G450 or

Falcon 900 The Dassault Falcon 900, commonly abbreviated as the F900, is a French-built corporate trijet aircraft made by Dassault Aviation. Development The Falcon 900 is a development of the Dassault Falcon 50, Falcon 50, itself a development of the e ...

LX are slower, have less range and smaller cabins.

Global Express XRS

The improved Global Express XRS was announced on 6 October 2003 during the NBAA Convention at Orlando, Florida. It replaced the original Global Express and provides greater range at high speed, cabin upgrades, improved takeoff performance, fast fueling capability and the Bombardier

Enhanced Vision System An enhanced flight vision system (EFVS, sometimes EVS) is an Avionics, airborne system which provides an image of the scene and displays it to the pilot, in order to provide an image in which the scene and objects in it can be better detected. I ...

(BEVS) as standard equipment. A new forward fuel tank in the wing/body fairing increases the usable fuel capacity by up to 1,486 lbs, allowing it to fly 6,500 nm at Mach 0.82, 6,150 nm at Mach 0.85 or 5,450 nm at Mach 0.87. It provides improved pressurization with a 4,500 ft cabin altitude at 45,000 ft and a 5,700 ft cabin altitude at 51,000 ft; a 25% improvement on the previous Global cabin.

Global 6000

Bombardier rebranded the Global Express XRS and upgraded the avionics from the Honeywell Primus 2000XP to the new Bombarder Vision flight deck, based on the

Pro Line Fusion avionics suite, to create the Global 6000. The Global 6000 was announced in 2011 and production started in 2012. Its flexible wing and

wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total weight of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed, takeoff speed and landing speed of an aircraft are partly determined by its wing loading. The faster an airc ...

, the highest among its competitors, gives a comfortable ride in turbulence. It has improved acoustical insulation compared to its predecessor. On long trips, its fuel burn is in the first hour, in the second hour, in the third hour and for every subsequent hour. A Checks are scheduled every 750 hours, and for C Checks every 30 months. Engine reserves amount to $260 per hour. Over 315 were delivered by March 2019. Its competitors include the

Dassault Falcon 8X The Dassault Falcon 7X is a large-cabin, range business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation. Unveiled at the 2001 Paris Air Show, its first flight took place on 5 May 2005 and it entered service on 15 June 2007. The Falcon 8X, first delivered ...

, the Gulfstream G600 or even the G650. In 2018, its unit cost was US$62.31 million.

Global 5500/6500

HB-JRJ at Zurich International Airport 2021-10-05 1

In May 2018, Bombardier unveiled the Global 5500 and 6500. It was expected to enter service at the end of 2019. It has an optimized wing for a Mach 0.90 top speed, a revamped cabin inspired by the Global 7500 with its ''Nuage'' seat and updated Rolls-Royce BR710 Pearl engines with up to 13% lower fuel burn for better operating costs. It has better

hot and high In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. The lower air density reduces the power output from an airc ...

performance and of additional range for , respectively. The engines have 9% more thrust. By October 2018, 70% of the flight testing hours were completed. The programme involved two flight-test Global 6500s, as the 5500 is a simple shrink. The redesigned wings are built by

. By December, the flight-test program was nearly three-quarters complete. By May 2019, 90% of the flight testing was completed by two modified 6000s and one modified 5000. In September 2019, Bombardier announced the

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

Type Certification of both models, before entry-into-service later in 2019 and FAA/

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

approval. Bombardier announced the Global 6500 entry-into-service on 1 October. EASA Type Certification of both models was announced in October 2019. Shortly after, the Global 5500 range was extended by to at Mach 0.85. FAA Type Certification of both variants was announced in December 2019. Bombardier announced the entry-into-service of the Global 5500 in June 2020. The first Global 5500 was delivered in July 2020, to " longtime Bombardier customer Unicorp National Developments, headquartered in Orlando, Florida." In 2023, the Global 5500 costs $47.4 million, while the Global 6500 costs $58 million.

Military variants

The Global Express has been modified for military missions. * GlobalEye multi-role AEW&C, a Global 6000 with the SAAB Erieye's ER AESA radar for the United Arab Emirates Air Force * Hensoldt Pegasus: In January 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Defence chose the Global 6000 over the unmanned

Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is an American high-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed for and flown by the United States Navy and Royal Australian Air Force as a surveillance aircraft. Together with its associate ...

for the “Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System” (PEGASUS) program, to better integrate in the

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

. * Project Dolphin: Conversion of Global 6000 by

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

into surveillance aircraft for United Arab Emirates. Two converted. * The Raytheon Sentinel is a

surveillance aircraft Surveillance aircraft are aircraft used for surveillance. They are primarily operated by military forces and government agencies in roles including intelligence gathering, maritime patrol, battlefield and airspace surveillance, observation (e. ...

formerly used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

* Saab Swordfish

maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over ...

- built on Global 6000 platform by General Dynamic Mission Systems-Canada and

* PAL Aerospace P-6

- built on Global 6500 platform by PAL Aerospace and Bombardier Aviation but evolved from P-4 MPA based on the Q-400 * E-11A,

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

designation for Global aircraft being used as a platform for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node. A BD-700 has carried the High-Altitude

Lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

Operational Experiment (HALOE) payload, deploying to Africa and Afghanistan to survey large areas rapidly. In March 2019 Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries, SSB, announced that two green Bombardier Global 6000s had been delivered to the facilities of Turkish Aerospace to undergo modification to the Hava SOJ (air stand-off jammer) configuration. In July 2023,

L3Harris L3Harris Technologies, Inc. is an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produces products for command and control systems, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avionics and electroni ...

unveiled a Conformal Airborne Early Warning version as a replacement for the E-3 Sentry used by European NATO countries. In December 2023, the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for one Global 6500, with an option for two more, to be used as a High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. In November 2024, the first plane was delivered.Bombardier wins US Army contract for new spy plane prototype
Jen Judson,

Defense News ''Defense News'' is a website and newspaper about the politics, business, and technology of national security published by Sightline Media Group. Founded in 1986, ''Defense News'' says it serves an audience of senior military, government, and in ...

, 2024-01-04 In March 2025, it was officially announced that the HADES was designated ME-11B.

Operators

Most operators fly 450 to 600 hours per year. Fleet operators frequently fly more than 100 hours per month. By February 2015, over 600 aircraft accumulated more than 1.5 million flight hours and 570,000 cycles. In May 2018, 20 years after the type's introduction, more than 750 Globals were in service. Half of the 6000s are registered in North America, mostly in the US. NetJets operates at least six and large corporations like

Aetna Aetna Inc. ( ) is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

CitiGroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

, Limited Brands,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

fly the aircraft. Malta-based VistaJet operates twenty eight 6000s, one Global XRS and has confirmed a delivery schedule of multiple Global 7500 throughout 2021. Lisbon-based

NetJets NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells Fractional ownership of aircraft, fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the ...

Europe flies four 6000s. A dozen 6000s are registered in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

for anonymity, a few are registered in the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

. Four are registered in Austria, three in Switzerland, two in France and Denmark, and one each in Finland, Germany, Ireland and Turkey. Three are registered in China, one in Malaysia and one in Hong Kong. Two are based in São Paulo, two are in South Africa and one is in India.

Civil

The aircraft is operated by private individuals, companies, executive charter operators and government agencies, including: * ACM Air Charter, Baden-Baden * Crystal Luxury Air *

AirAsia Capital A Berhad (), operating as AirAsia (stylised as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1993 and commencing operations in 1996, the airline is the largest in M ...

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

Flexjet Flexjet is an American provider of fractional ownership aircraft, leasing, and jet card services. Founded in 1995 as a division of Bombardier Aerospace, it is currently owned by Directional Aviation, an aviation private investment firm. Backg ...

* ExecuJet Aviation Group, Zurich *

Netjets NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells Fractional ownership of aircraft, fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the ...

, a

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

subsidiary *

Canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

CEO

Mark Shuttleworth Mark Richard Shuttleworth (born 18 September 1973) is a South African and British entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux operating system. In 2002, Shuttleworth became the first African to travel to spa ...

through HBD Venture Capital * TAG Aviation, Switzerland * Tiriac Air, Romania * Qatar Executive, a business jet subsidiary of

Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...

* VistaJet, Malta * Jet Story, Poland * Seven Aviation,

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Military

Transport

; :*1 Global 5000 VIP, operated by the Angolan armed forces ; :* 1 Global 6000 VIP, operated by the Botswana Air Force ; :* 3 Global 5000 for VIP transport operated by the ''Special Air Mission Wing MoD'' in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

:* 3 Global 6000 for VIP transport delivered in late 2019. ; :* 1 Global 6000 VIP, operated by the

Royal Malaysian Air Force The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) was formed on 2 June 1958 as the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (; ). However, its roots can be traced back to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force formations of the British Royal A ...

, assigned to the ''2nd Squadron'' of the ''1st Division of the Air Force'' and is stationed at Kuala Lumpur-Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. ; :* 1 Global jet ordered for the

Mexican Air Force The Mexican Air Force (FAM; ) is the air service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and as such overseen by the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, in ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

:* 2 Global 6500 for VIP transport on order for the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

, to be delivered in late 2025.

Military mission

; :* 3 Global 6500, known as ''Pegasus'' (Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System), for

SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

missions ordered in 2021, first flown in October 2024, to enter service by 2025 and replace the Eurohawk ;

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

:* 2 Global 5000 SIGINT aircraft made by Elta, stationed at the Palam Air Force Station in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

; :* 1 Global 6000 ordered to be converted to EW, ESM, ECM platform as a successor to the DA-20 Falcon, and to be operated by the Pakistani Air Force ;

:* 3 Global 6000 for the GlobalEye AEW&C on order + 1 on option, to be delivered by 2027 ; :* 2 Global 6000 to be transformed into Electronic warfare / jamming platforms for the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

, received in March 2019 ;

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

:* 5 Global 6000 for the GlobalEye AEW&C ordered in 2 tranches :* 2 ''Project Dolphin'' ELINT aircraft ;

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

:* 7 Global 6000 in service + 4 on order, known as E-11A, used as command and control / battlefield airborne communication node :

:*Global 6500 SIGINT / ELINT, successor of the RC-12 Guardrail :**1 Global 6500 demonstrator ARES flew in Europe for missions in order to try out the technologies prior to the development of the HADES final variant.

Former operators

; *

(June 2007 – March 2021) ** No. 5 Squadron RAF - 5 (Bombardier airframe modified as Raytheon Sentinel R1 by

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

)

Specifications

Accidents and incidents

As of 27 January 2020, six Global Express have been damaged beyond repair in hull-loss incidents.

References

External links

* * * * {{Aircraft manufactured in Canada 1990s Canadian business aircraft Global Express T-tail aircraft Twinjets Aircraft first flown in 1996 Low-wing aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear