Gulfstream Delivers First Ultra-Long-Range G800

Gulfstream Aerospace has delivered the first G800 to a customer, putting its longest-range business jet into service four months after certification. The handover was announced on 27 August 2025. The aircraft was outfitted at Gulfstream's completions facility in Appleton, Wisconsin, the company's largest completions site outside its Savannah, Georgia headquarters.

The G800 received type certification from both the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency on 16 April 2025. Gulfstream president Mark Burns said the company had seen very strong demand for the aircraft and that the G800 was entering service with a high level of programme maturity, as the G700 had before it.

A long-range jet built from proven parts

Gulfstream unveiled the G800 in Savannah on 4 October 2021, alongside the super-midsize G400. Rather than designing an all-new aircraft, Gulfstream combined the cabin of the G650, its previous flagship, with the wing, Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines and Symmetry flight deck developed for the larger G700. The result is an aircraft about 10 ft (3 m) shorter than the G700 that trades some cabin space for more range. The G800 first flew on 28 June 2022.

That approach explains the maturity Burns referred to. The G700 had been certified in March 2024 and entered service the following month, so the G800's engines, wing and avionics had already accumulated operating experience by the time the first G800 reached a customer. The G800 is positioned as the successor to the G650 and G650ER, which Gulfstream has since phased out of production.

Performance and cabin

Specification	Gulfstream G800
Range at Mach 0.85	8,200 nm (15,186 km)
Range at Mach 0.90	7,000 nm (12,964 km)
Maximum operating speed	Mach 0.935
Engines	Two Rolls-Royce Pearl 700, 18,250 lbf thrust each
Cabin altitude	2,840 ft at 41,000 ft
Maximum passengers	19
Cabin windows	16 panoramic oval windows

At 8,200 nm, the G800 can connect city pairs such as Singapore and Los Angeles or Dubai and Houston nonstop under typical conditions. Gulfstream offers the cabin in four living areas, or three living areas plus a dedicated crew rest compartment, which matters on flights long enough to need an augmented crew. The cabin is supplied with 100% fresh air and has a plasma ionisation air purification system. The 2,840 ft cabin altitude at a cruising altitude of 41,000 ft is, according to Gulfstream, the lowest in the business jet industry, which reduces fatigue on long flights.

Competition

The G800 competes most directly with Bombardier's Global 7500 and Global 8000. Bombardier's Global 8000, certified in late 2024, is rated at 8,000 nm and a top speed of Mach 0.94. Gulfstream's own G700 offers a larger cabin with 7,750 nm of range. Buyers in this segment are typically choosing between cabin volume and the ability to fly the longest routes nonstop, and the G800 sits at the range end of that choice.

Why it matters

For Gulfstream, which belongs to General Dynamics, getting the G800 into service on schedule after the delays the G700 programme suffered was important for both revenue and customer confidence. G700 certification came in March 2024, well over a year later than Gulfstream had originally targeted. The G800 had the advantage of following a type that had already completed most of the hardest certification work.

The first delivery also marks a step in Gulfstream's product transition. Together with the G700 and the G400, the G800 forms the core of a refreshed line-up that replaces aircraft designed in the 2000s.

What has happened since

• Third quarter 2025: Gulfstream delivered 39 aircraft in the third quarter of 2025, including three G800s and 13 G700s, as G800 deliveries began in line with plans.
• November 2025: A G800 set its eighth city-pair speed record on the way to the Dubai Airshow, flying from Phuket, Thailand, to Dubai in 5 hours 38 minutes. Earlier G800 records included Miami to Riyadh in 12 hours 33 minutes.