Bombardier's Global Express made its first flight on 13 October 1996 from Downsview, near Toronto. FlightGlobal's report, published on 23 October 1996, says the flight lasted 2 hours 46 minutes, reached 11,000 feet and 210 knots, and was flown by Pete Reynolds, Bombardier Aerospace's vice-president for flight test. Skies Magazine adds that the prototype took off from Runway 33.

The thirtieth anniversary falls on Tuesday 13 October 2026.

The build-up

Bombardier launched the programme in December 1993 and rolled the prototype out at the de Havilland factory at Downsview on 26 August 1996, according to Skies, in front of about 2,500 guests. FlightGlobal says the first flight had been hoped for in September.

The aircraft was powered by two BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 engines, each rated at 65 kilonewtons of thrust, with a design range of 6,500 nautical miles at Mach 0.8 and a maximum cruise speed of Mach 0.88.

The test plan

FlightGlobal reported an 18-month certification flight-test programme of 2,000 hours across four aircraft, numbered 9001 to 9004. The first was for performance testing, envelope expansion, stalls and flutter, the second for systems, the third for avionics. The fourth was the first production-standard aircraft, with a cabin interior, for function and reliability testing. FlightGlobal also noted that Gulfstream's rival, the Gulfstream V, had first flown in October 1995.

Transport Canada certified the Global Express on 31 July 1998. Customer deliveries began in early 1999.

How many were built

AOPA's 2013 overview says 148 original Global Express aircraft were delivered between 1999 and 2005.

On my screen

The BBBRadar desk unit shows type, registration, route where one is filed, callsign and altitude. It prints the type as "BD-700 Glo", the device shortening "Global". That label does not say whether an aircraft is a Global Express or one of the later Globals, so I have not tried to guess.

Here is what I caught:

  • 27 September 2026: G-OUEG as VCG3UG at 2,650 feet, and CS-GLC as NJE609N at 16,600 feet.
  • 6 October 2026: N720WL as EJM720 at 1,375 feet, and CS-GLH as NJE339T at 3,075 feet.

There are 13 BD-700 catches in my library from those two sessions. Many business jets show no route on the screen, because none is filed or published, which is why those four have none.

What I have not confirmed

I could not find a Bombardier statement marking the anniversary, so the date here is the anniversary of the first flight reported in 1996, and nothing more. The photographs with this article show Global Express (BD-700-1A10) aircraft. I have not tied any of them to the four I caught.

Sources