Business Aviation Highlights Of 2021

Dassault’s ultra-widebody Falcon 6X made its 2-hr. 30-min. first flight from Bordeaux-Merignac Airport, France, on March 10. The aircraft has the tallest and widest cabin of any purpose-designed business jet and an intercontinental range of 5,500 nm. Three test aircraft are now flying and certification is anticipated in 2022.

Bye Aerospace in April launched the eFlyer 800, an eight-seat, all-electric competitor to Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft King Air 260 turboprop twin. Performance targets include a 500-nm range with a 320-kt. cruise speed and 35,000-ft. ceiling. Certification is expected by early 2026.

Dassault unveiled the Falcon 10X in May, a clean-sheet, four-zone, ultra-long-range aircraft and its largest business jet to date. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engines, the aircraft has a range of 7,500 nm and maximum speed of Mach 0.925. Certification is planned for late 2025.

Supersonic business-jet developer Aerion ceased operations in May after failing to raise the funding required to continue development of its Mach 1.4 aircraft, AS2. Work had been underway for a decade and first flight was planned for 2024. GE also ceased development of its Affinity supersonic engine.

For its first product launch since becoming a pure-play business aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier in September unveiled the Challenger 3500, a revamp of its bestselling Challenger 350 super midsize business jet with a new cabin interior and reduced cabin altitude. Certification is planned for 2022.

Gulfstream filled out its long-range, large-cabin business jet lineup in October when it unveiled the 4,200-nm G400 and 8,000-nm G800. Based on the G700, the G800 is planned for certification in 2023 and will succeed the G650. Based on the G500/G600, the G400 is scheduled for certification in 2025.

Honda aircraft in October revealed the HondaJet 2600 concept for a long-range light jet with transcontinental capability, designed to fly up to 2,625 nm with as many as 10 passengers and a single pilot. Derived from the HA-420 HondaJet light jet, the aircraft has a stretched fuselage and longer-span wing.

Textron Aircraft revamped its product line in 2021, ending production of the midsize Cessna Citation Sovereign and smaller Beechcraft King Air C90GTx, but certifying the upgraded King Air 260, and in October introducing the Citation M2 Gen 2 and Citation XLS Gen 2 jets with improved cabins.

Textron Aviation single-turboprop Beechcraft (formerly Cessna) Denali made its long-awaited 2-hr. 50-min. first flight from Wichita on Nov. 23. The aircraft is powered by GE Aviation’s new Catalyst turboprop. Two more flight-test aircraft are planned and certification is now scheduled for 2023.

The Airbus ACJ TwoTwenty long-range business jet—a reconfigured A220-100 narrowbody airliner—completed its first flight Dec. 14 from Mirabel, Quebec. The aircraft has a range of 5,650 nm. Airbus launched the TwoTwenty program in 2020 and anticipates entry into service in 2023.