Contributor - UK

David Donald

Coming off the back of the company’s best second-quarter results since 2008, Gulfstream Aerospace has come to the LABACE show in São Paulo having already delivered 73 aircraft in the first half of this year, and with its order backlog up by 10 percent. The company is exhibiting here at Congonhas Airport with a line-up comprising the super-midsize G280, and the large-cabin G550 and G650ER aircraft.

 


“We’re still seeing a good level of activity in Latin America, and especially in Brazil,” Scott Neal, senior vice president for worldwide sales and marketing told a press conference on Monday. At the same time, Neal recognized that the local economy has had its difficulties lately. “Like any region, Brazil’s economy has its cycles. It goes up and down, and that impacts aircraft sales,” he added, “The good news for Gulfstream is that the fleet in Brazil continues to grow.”

 


For the Brazilian market, the G280 is seen as particularly applicable, especially as owners of smaller aircraft look to trade up. The aircraft was certified in Brazil in the second quarter of this year, and the first aircraft in the country have already been delivered. More than 65 G280s are now in service around the world.

 


Brazil’s share of the worldwide Gulfstream fleet has surpassed 40 aircraft, having grown by 30 percent in five years, and 10 percent in just the last 12 months. Overall, Latin America is home to more than 180 Gulfstreams, an increase of 70 percent since 2010. The majority are in Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.

 


Illustrating Gulfstream’s continued commitment to the region, the company has added three more field service representatives: two in São Paulo and one in Toluca, Mexico. Aerocardal has just been named as Gulfstream’s commercial and government representative in Chile. Gulfstream provides regional support through the company’s own service center at Sorocaba, Brazil, which has had its spare parts inventory raised to $9 million worth, plus authorized service centers in Caracas, Venezuela (Aerocentro de Servicios) and Toluca (Aerovics).

 


On the question of increasing regional support further, either through new centers or expansion at Sorocaba, Neal commented, “We’ll continue to grow our network as the number of aircraft grows. We’re committed to Brazil for the long term.”

 


New G500 and G600

 


Gulfstream’s flight test department is now engaged in testing the new fly-by-wire G500. The prototype, T1, made its first flight on May 18 this year, and has amassed more than 15 hours in the air. So far it has been flown to a speed of Mach 0.8 and an altitude of 38,500 feet. The longest flight to date exceeded four hours and testing is progressing smoothly. The next two prototypes, T2 and T3, are being prepared to join the test program.

 


Meanwhile, the first prototype of the longer-range G600 is currently being built at Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. This aircraft has been designed with a 4,800-nm range at Mach 0.9, allowing it to reach New York from São Paulo at this speed. At the slightly more conservative cruising speed of Mach 0.85 the 6,200-nm range places all of the U.S. and much of Europe within range. Deliveries of the G500 are scheduled to begin in 2018, with the G600 following in 2019.

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