Bombardier To Offer Challenger 3500
Bombardier Tuesday morning unveiled a new look and branding for its venerable Challenger 300/350 family that brings it in line with the Global nomenclature, borrows from some of the high-end interior features from its flagship Global 7500, and adds new equipment, including an autothrottle.
Revealed during an event at its facilities in Montreal that featured a mockup in the bronze and gold livery used during the Global 5500/6500 launch, the Challenger 3500 builds on the 350 and eventually will replace it on the production line, the company said. Nearly 250 gathered for the rollout event that drew local and industry leaders, customers and the leadership and board of Bombardier, including chairman emeritus Laurent Beaudoin and chairman Pierre Beaudoin.
Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel, who joined the current chairman in the formal launch ceremony, said the 3500 “features all the best-selling elements of the Challenger platform—impressive performance, consistent reliability, exceptional smooth ride—while elevating the cabin experience for our customers.”
To be available in the second half of 2022 and offered at the same $26.7 million list price of the Challenger 350, the 3500 will introduce features such as voice-controlled cabin management features and wireless charging.
The 3500 will retain the engines, avionics, and performance of its predecessor super-midsize business jet. But the new Safe Flight autothrottle will ease control and pilot workload, said Mathieu St-Cyr, manager of sales engineering.
Bombardier took a holistic approach to the cabin considering comfort, the connected passenger, wellness, styling, and sustainability, the company said.
“We wanted to make sure we embedded a lot of the newer technology that people expect these days in their cars and their home—such as wireless charging,” said Laurence Casia, manager of industrial design and cabin innovation. “There’s a lot of amenities that are becoming expectation but are still rare in business aircraft. So, we’re introducing a lot of those features. And we really wanted to emphasize comfort, but not just for comfort sake, but also for productivity.” Courtesy of AIN