Bombardier Global 5500 Charter

The Bombardier Global 5500 is the mid-life re-engining of the Global 5000 — Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 engines replacing the earlier BR710s, a new Vision Flight Deck with fly-by-wire refinements, and the Nuage seat first introduced on the Global 7500. Certified in 2019 and entering service in 2020, the 5500 gives the Global platform another 500 nautical miles of range (5,900 nm total) and roughly 13 per cent better fuel burn than the 5000 it replaced.

For charter clients the 5500 sits in a narrow but attractive slot: not the full 6,000-plus-nm ULR mission of a G550 or Global 6500, but a genuinely long-legged three-zone cabin at heavy-jet hourly rates. It suits missions like London to New York with reserves, Dubai to Singapore, or Los Angeles to Honolulu-plus, where a full ULR is not required but a Challenger-class cabin is not enough.

Cabin dimensions: 40 feet 9 inches long, 7 feet 11 inches wide and 6 feet 2 inches tall. Standard layout is 13–16 passengers in a three-zone configuration; a common charter build is forward four-place club, mid-cabin conference group and aft three-place divan with berthing. The Nuage seat brings tilt, deep-recline, headrest articulation and a class-leading berthed position — a step up over the 5000's Prestige seat.

Cabin management is Bombardier's ce+ system with 4K displays, Bluetooth pairing and Ka-band Wi-Fi standard. Baggage volume is 195 cubic feet, in-flight accessible. Cabin altitude at FL450 is 5,680 ft. The lavatory is fully enclosed with vanity and belted seat; late-build aircraft carry natural-light windows in the aft lavatory.

Twin Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 engines deliver 15,125 pounds of thrust each. Maximum operating Mach is 0.90 — matched only by the Global 6500/7500/8000 in the Bombardier line. Long-range cruise Mach 0.85. Certified ceiling is FL510. NBAA IFR range with eight passengers is 5,900 nautical miles — enough for London to New York into typical winter westerlies, Dubai to Singapore, Los Angeles to Honolulu-plus, or transcontinental US with fuel reserves for weather diversions.

Balanced field length at MTOW is 5,540 ft — 900 ft shorter than the XRS thanks to the new wing tuning and Pearl 15 thrust profile. Landing distance is 2,670 ft. The Vision Flight Deck's advanced synthetic-vision and combined-vision head-up display represent a generational step over the original Global 5000 cockpit.

Charter hourly rates run $12,000–$14,000 in North America; €12,500–€14,500 in Europe. Empty-leg availability is moderate; the fleet is still young and mostly operated in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Indicative pricing: London to New York from £115,000; Dubai to Singapore from $95,000; Los Angeles to Honolulu from $58,000; New York to Los Angeles from $52,000.

Against the Global 5000 the 5500 adds 700 nm of range, better fuel burn, Nuage seats and Vision Flight Deck at 10–15 per cent higher cost. Against the Global 6500 the 5500 gives up 500 nm of range and modest cabin length at 10 per cent lower cost. Charter the 5500 when a long-range Bombardier is required for missions inside 5,900 nm and cabin experience matters as much as range.