At the top of the fleet the question stops being whether the aircraft can make the distance and becomes what the fourteen hours feel like. A G650ER or Global 7500 divides into three or four separate zones — a forward club, a mid-cabin conference or dining group, and an aft stateroom with a full-length bed and its own lavatory. Crew rest is dedicated, so the cabin crew working the last hour are not the ones who worked the first.
The performance figures are what make the routes possible. Seven thousand nautical miles at Mach 0.85 is Lagos–Dubai nonstop, London–Los Angeles against the jet stream, London–Singapore, New York–Dubai. Cabin altitude around 3,000–4,500 feet and near-sea-level humidity are the reason passengers step off these aircraft after a transpacific leg and go straight into a meeting.
These aircraft are also the scarcest in the market. There are only so many G650ERs and Global 7500s available for charter in Europe and the Gulf at any moment, and demand around Grand Prix weekends, the Gulf season and the December holidays outstrips supply badly. Booking this class three to six weeks out is not caution, it is the only way to get the aircraft you want.
Representative aircraft
- Gulfstream G650ER — 16 seats · 7,500 nm · Mach 0.925 max
- Bombardier Global 7500 — 19 seats · 7,700 nm · four living zones
- Dassault Falcon 8X — 16 seats · 6,450 nm · quietest cabin in class
What it suits
- Lagos–Dubai and Lagos–New York nonstop
- London to the US West Coast or Asia
- Anything over eight hours with a full cabin
- Trips where a private stateroom is the point
Routes we fly on this class: Lagos → Dubai · Lagos → London.