Business and Finance

NEW YORK–Gulfstream Aerospace Corp Thursday launched the new G650 business jet, its biggest, fastest, longest-range plane to date, as it looks to take advantage of the continuing boom in private plane sales and the trend toward larger aircraft.

The G650 is expected to have a range of 7,000 nautical miles (about 12,950 km) at a speed of 0.85 Mach, which means it would be able to fly non-stop from Los Angeles to London.

It will have a maximum cabin headroom of about 6 feet 5 inches (about 1.96 meters) and larger, oval windows. Gulfstream gave no indication of price, but it will likely cost more than $60 million.

Gulfstream, a unit of defense contractor General Dynamics Corp, caters to the upper end of the business jet market, but has recently seen potential customers opt for versions of larger commercial planes made by Boeing Co and Airbus.

Last year Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal became the first individual to buy an Airbus A380, the largest commercial plane in production. Boeing has sold nine of its new 787 Dreamliners to superwealthy private customers.

Gulfstream's new G650 jet, the designs of which were unveiled at a ceremony at Gulfstream's plant at Savannah, Georgia, Thursday, wouldn't compete directly with those larger airliners, but is designed to dominate the top end of the business jet market.

The plane is set for first test flight late next year and first delivery in 2012.

The business jet market tends to follow corporate profits and general economic trends, but it shows no signs so far of slowing down, despite evidence of a broad downturn in the United States, the biggest market for private jets.

Last year, Gulfstream and other plane makers delivered a record 1,138 business jets, up 28 percent from the year before cash til payday loan. It was the first year the industry delivered more than 1,000 jets.

Gulfstream, founded in 1958, is one of the world's biggest business jet makers, competing against Canada's Bombardier Inc , France's Dassault Aviation and U.S. plane maker Cessna Aircraft Co, a unit of Textron Inc.

Boeing and Airbus, a unit of Europe's EADS, also offer custom versions of their commercial planes, which are growing in popularity among heads of state and rich business people.

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