Bombardier announced an increased maximum speed for its flagship Global 8000 aircraft to Mach 0.95, up from 0.94. This establishes a new speed benchmark for the industry according to CEO Eric Martel, with a high speed cruise of M0.92. Those speed make the Global 8000 is the world’s fastest civilian aircraft since Concorde. While not certified for supersonic flight, the Global 8000 was the first business jet to go supersonic in testing, providing a speed margin for high speed flight.
“Our journey will next continue with Transport Canada certification and entry into service for our first aircraft before the end of the year,” says Eric Martel, Bombardier president and CEO.
“Our customers are always looking for a solution on how they can move around the globe” in a comfortable and efficient way, and this faster speed jet “is a new tool that will bring even more efficiency,” said Martel.
“The Global 8000 was already the fastest business aircraft ever built, and with this new speed capability, this incredible aircraft is set to redefine the ultra-long-range market,” said Stephen McCullough, Bombardier’s senior vice president for engineering and product development.
“This achievement underscores the significant contributions of our innovative design, flight test and production teams and showcases their immense expertise, obsession with excellence and unrelenting commitment to push the boundaries.”
Increasing top speed requires regulatory approval, and engineers need to demonstrate the stability of an aircraft at higher than certified speeds, typically M0.07 more than the approved speed. That would require testing at M1.02, supersonic speeds, to enable qualification. Bombardier demonstrated supersonic flight during their flight testing in 2021 and in wind tunnel testing at M1.2 in 2023, meeting the requirements for a certification of the slightly higher speed.
“You want to have a good margin between where you are operating and your max,” says McCullough. The speed increase gives the Global 8000 a high-speed cruise of M0.92. “We are extremely confident in certification and being in service this year,” he added.
The Bottom Line
The Global 8000 blends both high speed and ultra long-range performance with a large 4-zone cabin, combining performance and comfort. The increase in speed, while small, provides it with a differentiator vis-à -vis it key competitors from Gulfstream and Dassault  Falcon at the top of the business jet market. Bombardier is pushing the speed envelope to near supersonic speeds with the latest increase in top speed.
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