GULFSTREAM 800: New Murdoch aircraft the first of its type to land in Sydney

Joe Aston’s (authority on Alan Joyce’s leadership at Qantas) website and newsletter Rampart is reporting that Lauchlan Murdoch’s new toy plane, a Gulfstream 800 (N888NC), arrived in Sydney this month. It’s the first of this new version of the businessman’s plaything to land in Sydney.

The aircraft departed Gulfstream’s Savannah base on January 6, made a stop in California, and then headed across the Pacific to Australia. On January 11, it was on the ground in Sydney, outside the ExecuJet terminal.

The new G800

While the previously Fox owned G650 was considered the gold standard of ultra-long-range private jets, the G800 is its next-generation successor. Gulfstream says the jet has a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles, a faster cruise speed, and a better cabin, even better than the lavish G650.

In practice, it means the jet can fly non-stop between almost any two cities on the planet, including New York to Sydney. Even London to Buenos Aires, or Los Angeles to Singapore are possible. For the executive who can afford it, who values time, privacy and control, it’s as good as private jets get.

A familiar upgrade cycle

Post-pandemic, the move at this private jet altitude has been towards ultra-long-range jets. In this market, you can afford to buy the current best, use it for a few years, mark it up and move it on, while you buy another top-of-the-market replacement. Manufacturers like Gulfstream and Bombardier have been enjoying a boom, driven by executives who’ve decided that commercial terminals, queues and delays are optional extras they’d rather avoid.

2PAXfly Takeout

The arrival of Fox’s new Gulfstream G800 in Sydney is a reminder that there is a whole other world of private aviation which most of us will never see, let alone experience. It’s a world where you board, fly and arrive when you want to, not when an airline wants you to.

We should all be so lucky.