Today, Bombardier is famous for produce some of the best private jets currently on the market. Chief among them is their entry-level jet, the Bombardier Challenger 300, which has proven to be quite popular since its introduction in 2004.
Whilst the Challenger 300-derived Challenger 350 is still in production, the Challenger 300 was produced between 2001 and 2014.
During this time, Bombardier built over 450 Challenger 300 jets (and have produced 350 Challenger 350s as of the time of writing too!) making it one of the most popular private jets ever built, only behind the Global Express, Hawker 400 and Challenger 600!
Pre-Bombardier Challenger 300
The 1990’s were one of the best decades for the aviation industry in recent memory. The mass-introduction of the first generation of low-cost airlines such as PSA and Southwest allowed millions of people to fly for the first time.
To compete with these low-cost airlines, airlines were forced to push down prices in economy class, thus allowing even more people to fly. Yet, to continue to make a profit, these airlines were forced to raise prices for business and first class considerably.
Beyond the mass-introduction of low-cost airlines, the 1990’s also saw fuel prices fall to record lows, which helped make operating aircraft far cheaper than they were beforehand.
However, this reduction in fuel costs made it only slightly more expensive to operate a private jet, than fly first class. Not surprisingly, many incredibly wealthy frequent flyers chose to start buying private jets en masse.
To begin with, these wealthy frequent flyers acquired brand-new jets straight from the manufacturers. faced with waiting lists that were several years long, many began to acquire second-hand jets, but these too, soon began to become scarce.
Having acquired Canadair in 1986 (and thus their Challenger 600 line of jets) and Learjet in 1990 (and thus their myriad of jets), Bombardier was in a good place to meet this demand, which seemed to be growing by the month…
Development
Seeing that their Challenger 600 and Learjet lines were selling incredibly well, Bombardier simply began to expand production of their pre-existing jets. However, they soon realized that they were loosing sales.
You see, since its inception, Learjet had marketed itself as a producer of entry-level business jets, whilst the Challenger 600 was marketed as a high-end business jet. There was no middle ground.
Seeing this, Bombardier immediately set to work, developing an all-new jet that would be a middle of the market option. In reference to its transcontinental range, Bombardier would call this jet the Bombardier Continental.
Designed with the intention that it would be designated as a super mid-sized jet, Bombardier engineers gave the Continental the ability to carry either eight or nine people (depending on configuration), which was more than the average seven or eight of the time.
To attract more buyers, the Bombardier Continental was also deliberately designed to be more fuel-efficient per seat than its pre-existing competitors were.
Developing the jet in secret, Bombardier would unveil the Continental to the public at the 1999 Paris Airshow, before first flying it on August 14 2001, with it soon being evaluated by most of the world’s major aviation regulators.
Operational History
Following the type’s certification over the course of 2001, 2002 and 2003, the type would first be introduced on January 8 2004. From here, it would go on to have a rather interesting service history!
Private Jet
Seeing the jet as the perfect aircraft for their needs, many wealthy frequent flyers would begin placing orders for the jet, with these orders being fulfilled over the course of the mid-to-late 2000’s and early 2010’s.
Upon receiving their new jets, these wealthy frequent flyers would begin to use their jet to travel all over the world instead of using airlines like they’d done beforehand.
However, unlike flying commercially, these wealthy frequent flyers could be much more spontaneous, being able to book a flight a mere few hours before they actually go on the flight.
Originally, wealthy frequent flyers began acquiring the Challenger 300 for personal use. As time progressed, a number of celebrities have also begun to acquire the jet, operating them on their tours, or just to avoid the paparazzi!
For the most part, these wealthy individuals and celebrities have kept their ownership of the jet anonymous for various reasons. Despite this, we do know some of the famous people who own and operate the jet.
Primarily, this is Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, who owns two Challenger 300s alongside his “main” private jet, the Gulfstream G550.
Indeed, the jet has proven to be such a good private jet, that it has even been used for political purposes, with a number of politicians (namely former US Senator Kelly Loeffler) have used the jet on their campaign trails.
Corporate Jet
Yet private flyers weren’t the only people who the Bombardier Challenger 300 appealed to. It also appealed to wealthy businessmen and the large corporations they control, many of whom acquired the jet to act as their corporate jet.
To begin with, the corporate buyers that acquired the jet did so mostly for cost-saving reasons. In reality, they would’ve loved to buy the Challenger 600 (a large jet), but instead chose to purchase the cheaper Challenger 300 (a super mid-sized jet).
In corporate service, the jet’s primarily role is to transport the company’s high-ranking executives to wherever they need to go. Here, the jet often flies a mixture of short and long-haul routes, mostly depending on what the need is at the time.
For the most part, this is due to the jet’s ability to fly on long-haul routes at a lower cost than larger jets, whilst also being able to transport eight or nine high-ranking executives at only a marginally higher cost per seat to lighter jets like the Phenom 100.
Much like the celebrities and wealthy private individuals who also operate the, most corporations have hidden their ownership of the jet, mostly to avoid the ire of the general public, whose views towards business jets have become more negative in recent years.
With that being said, recent years have seen many original operators of the jet retire the corporate jet they’ve used for almost two decades, either replacing them with a newer Challenger 350 or a cheaper Legacy 500/Praetor 600.
Charter
Seeing the unveiling of what was then called the Continental, a number of executive charter airlines placed orders for the jet. Following the jet’s introduction in 2004, and subsequent success, most other major charter airlines would acquire the jet.
For the most part, these executive charter airlines market the jet as the kind of jet you want to charter if you plan on flying more than six hours on a transcontinental route – owing to it being more comfortable than other jets in its class.
Alternatively, they market it as the jet that you want to charter if you’re looking to fly a route that would normally be performed by a large jet, but you aren’t transporting more than nine people.
Whilst they often acknowledge that the jet is great for corporate flyers, most of these executive charter airlines tend to market the jet towards private flyers, claiming that the jet’s in-flight entertainment system is the best in its class…
Speaking with the heads of several major American and European executive charter airlines, the Bombardier Challenger 300 is the most requested super mid-size jet that they have in their fleets, with it being requested four times more often than other jets!
Although prices are dependent on several factors (such as time of year, route and the executive charter airline you fly with) it generally costs around $5,400 per hour to charter the jet (as of the time of writing anyway!)
Fractional Ownership
When Bombardier unveiled the Continental at the 1999 Paris Airshow, the jet immediately caught the attention of fractional ownership companies – who buy entire jets, and sell fractions of them to wealthy private and corporate flyers.
Indeed, Flexjet, a fractional ownership company based in Richmond Heights, Ohio, became the first entity to order the Continental (later the Challenger 300), placing an order for 30 Continentals, a deal valued at around $720 million!
For the most part, Flexjet operates their Bombardier Challenger 300s right next to their Phenom 300s, with wealthy flyers able to purchase a Flexjet 25 card that enables them to fly for a maximum of 50 hours per year.
When they want to fly on short-haul routes, they can fly one of the company’s 36 Phenom 300 jets. When they want to fly on long-haul routes, however, they can fly on one of the company’s 55 Challenger 300 jets.
To make buying a Flexjet Challenger 300 far more accessible to first-time buyers (who Flexjet primarily market towards) the company provides trained pilots, has their own maintenance teams, and deals with all the logistics involved with the flight.
So they can make a profit, however, Flexjet (and the other fractional ownership companies that offer the jet) charge a monthly fee, regardless of whether you use the jet or not, which is usually in the realm of $25,000 per month.
Features
Although designated as a super mid-sized jet, and is thus one of the largest private jets on the market, the Bombardier Challenger 300 appears to be on the slightly smaller side of things, being both shorter (in terms of height) and skinnier than its competitors.
With that being said, the jet (and thus its cabin) is actually slightly longer than its competition, with it having a 10% larger cabin than the average jet in its class.
Despite having a larger cabin than its competitors do, the jet sacrifices a large baggage area for a larger cabin.
Although, the Challenger 300’s baggage area is by no means small, still being able to fit all your luggage without an issue, it is noticeably smaller than the average in its class.
Compared to the average jet in its class, the jet also has a much longer range, as much as 5% in fact (which is absolutely huge!) which has helped Bombardier sell even more copies of the jet than they would’ve otherwise!
Although most jets tend to sacrifice range for speed or vice-versa, the Challenger 300 has done neither. On top of having a longer range, the jet also has a faster cruising speed than its competitors do, especially on long-haul routes.
Price
Prior to ceasing production of the Challenger 300 in 2014, a brand new jet cost roughly $24 million. Whilst still a lot of money, this actually places the jet just barely on the cheaper end of private jets.
However, since production of the jet ceased production in 2014, the only way you could acquire one (assuming you had the money to) would be to buy it on the secondary market…
On the lower end of things, you could acquire a used Challenger from the early to mid 2000’s for as low as $6.995 million (as of the time of writing), whilst most Challengers from this time cost around $7.25 million.
For a newer Challenger – one built between 2007 and 2010, you could acquire for around $7.75 to $8.5 million depending on the year and total number of hours and landings on the fuselage.
On the higher end of things, however, you could purchase a “new(er)” Challenger, built between 2011 and 2014, for around $9.5 to $10 million, depending on those same aforementioned factors.
In terms of cost to operate, the Challenger is on the more expensive side, costing roughly $3,950 per hour to operate (assuming you flew the jet for 400 hours per year anyway!)
Variants
Due to the Challenger’s immense success, Bombardier have developed several variants of the jet to make it more successful. These variants include:
Challenger 300
In 1999, Bombardier would unveil an all-new business jet, the Bombardier Continental, to act as a bridge between the Canadair-designed Challenger 600 and the Learjet-designed Learjet 31 and Learjet 45, which were both owned by Bombardier at the time.
Deliberately designed to be larger than the Learjet 31/45, but smaller than the Challenger 600, the Continental was given bleeding edge technologies (for the time) such as manually actuated ailerons and hydraulic elevators and rudders with manual backups.
First flown on August 14 2001, the newly renamed Bombardier Challenger 300 would enter service on January 8 2004.
Challenger 350
Although the Challenger 300 was initially extremely successful, the introduction of more fuel-efficient competitors like the Gulfstream G280 and Embraer Praetor 600 soon began to take sales away from the jet.
To prevent this, Bombardier begin work on an upgraded variant of the Challenger, designated as the Challenger 350, which would first be flown on May 2 2013, before being unveiled weeks later at the 2013 EBACE in Geneva, Switzerland.
The main upgrades include better winglets, an updated cockpit, a heavily upgraded interior, newer (and more fuel-efficient) Honeywell HTF7350 engines and the introduction of an all-new fuel authority digital engine control (FADEC) system.
Introduced in 2014, the Challenger 350 has a price tag of $25.9 million, and fully replaced the Challenger 300 the same year it was introduced.
Specifications
| Specifications | Bombardier Challenger 300 |
|---|---|
| Length | 68 ft 8 in (20.92 m) |
| Wingspan | 63 ft 10 in (19.46 m) |
| Height | 20 ft 4 in (6.20 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 8 – 9 (depending on configuration) |
| Cruise Speed | 0.80 Mach (850 km/h; 528 mph; 459 kn) |
| Range | 5,741 km (3,567 mi; 3,100 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 45,000 ft (13,716 m) |
| MTOW | 38,850 lb (17,622 kg) |
How Safe is The Bombardier Challenger 300?
When it comes to the safest and most dangerous aircraft currently in our skies, we often tend to focus on commercial airliners like the A320 and 747. Private jets like Challenger 300, however, are often forgotten…
And this is done deliberately. After all, the sad fact of the matter is that only a tiny percentage of the world’s population will ever fly on a private jet, like the Challenger, during their lifetime, with most only ever flying commercially.
Yet, for those looking to fly on the Bombardier Challenger 300, you are probably wondering how safe or dangerous the jet truly is…
Luckily, the jet is actually quite safe!
All in all, Bombardier have built over 450 Challenger 300s since 2001, with only six of them ever being involved in an aviation-related incident of some kind, resulting in only one fatality.
Whilst you could argue that this is one fatality too many, this fatality (nor any of the Challenger 300s other crashes) wasn’t really the fault of the Challenger 300 itself, but rather other factors that nobody could’ve predicted!
Take the Challenger 300’s first (and only) fatal accident for instance. After performing a successful flight, the Challenger 300 landed, and began to taxi onto the flight apron, which ATC had told them was clear, even though it wasn’t.
Whilst doing this, the jet collided with an airport engineering vehicle which had been told to clear the runway and hadn’t. The collision seriously injured the vehicle’s driver, who later died in hospital.
And this is similar for the rest of the Challenger’s accidents, with the rest of them mostly being down to poor weather, whilst the rest were due to poorly maintained runways!
What’s it Like to Fly on The Bombardier Challenger 300?
Over the course of writing this article, I’ve had the good fortune of flying on the Bombardier Challenger 300 on several occasions, flying on a mixture of short and long-haul routes on several different aircraft, owned by several different operators.
And I have to admit something: I see why the jet has been so successful!
Immediately getting to the jet, you notice just how large the jet actually is. Getting into the jet itself, the sense of size doesn’t go away, with it still looking and feeling like a large jet, not a mid-size jet.
Perhaps my favorite part of the jet was how versatile it was. Flying on the jet, we flew from snowy mountaintop airports to airports in the middle of the desert, and even to airports with notoriously short runways.
Where most other jets would’ve struggled, the Bombardier Challenger 300 seemed to fly (no pun intended) with the pilots not seeming to struggle in any of these conditions.
Despite its interior being designed in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the jet’s inflight entertainment is still incredibly modern. This is surprising, given that entertainment technology has improved greatly over the last two decades – yet the jet’s is still great!
Obviously, compared to the inflight entertainment system on the Challenger 350, the Challenger 300’s inflight entertainment system looks like it belongs in the stone age…
From an owner’s point-of-view, I also noticed how everything seemed to be designed with ease of access in mind. Not only does this improve the jet’s usability, but also makes it easier (and thus cheaper) for an owner to maintain.
With all that being said, I did have one issue with the Bombardier Challenger 300.
Although it isn’t cramped by any means, the jet’s cabin is extremely skinny, meaning that you often find yourself needing to shimmy past the jet’s other passengers just to get up and down the aircraft, even if you aren’t a large person yourself!
What do you think of the Bombardier Challenger 300? Have you ever flown on it? Would you like to? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Cory W. Watts via Flickr.