Gulfstream G-450

Two figures in this class belong to the G-450 outright: 4,350 nm of range and 74.4 in of cabin height, each the highest of the eleven heavy jets we charter. The pairing matters more than either number alone. A heavy jet earns its keep by carrying a full party a long way in a cabin nobody has to stoop in, and the G-450 leads on both halves of that at once. Sixteen seats, 169 cu ft of baggage across seventeen bags, and a 541 in cabin behind them. Gulfstream has ended production, so what reaches the charter market is a defined population rather than a growing one.

What the G-450 is not is an ultra long range aircraft, and it should not be specified as one. The reach is the best in its class and still short of what the Globals and the G-650 do; the difference between them is not a rounding error but a change of mission. Where this aircraft is decisive is the sector that is long for a heavy jet and full at the same time — sixteen aboard, a cabin tall enough to stand in properly, and a hold that takes the party's luggage rather than a selection of it. The G-IV that preceded it shares the 541 in cabin and the seat count; the G-450 adds the height and the range.

Reach and headroom together