Airbus is planning a large corporate jet that will have a 22-hour endurance and a range of 10,500nm. The ACJ 350 ULR (ultra long range) will take 25 coddled passengers between virtually any point on earth non stop on a platform that, as an airliner, can accommodate up to 366 passengers. At a news conference on press day at NBAA on Monday, Airbus Marketing Director David Velupillai said the ULR model is an adaptation of the ACJ 350, with two hours of extra endurance and 1,000nm extra range. Velupillai also noted the latest models introduced in Airbus’s smaller corporate aircraft are enjoying strong sales.

The company announced last year it would be building corporate versions of the A319neo and A320neo and to date the company has sold two of the smallest jets and five of the 320 version. They will feature the engine and other upgrades featured on the airline versions of the aircraft that will boost fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs. Airbus has also begun offering “turnkey” aircraft rather than just supplying green aircraft for the customer to send to the interior finisher. To aid in the installation of interior walls and fixtures, the aircraft come equipped with hard points attached to the composite airframe so there is no need for the finishers to drill into the carbon fiber. Drilling through the plastic can cause structural problems because of the properties of the laid up material and the hard points are all correctly engineered to allow attachment of the interior fixtures.