Challenger 3500 Stops at LABACE on Latin American Tour

While some manufacturers, including Bombardier, have treated São Paulo’s two business aviation events as an either/or choice in recent years, the Canadian OEM attended both the Catarina Aviation Show in May and LABACE this week. Its Challenger 3500 has featured at both shows as part of a Latin American demonstration tour, with the larger Global 8000 making its debut only at the Catarina event.

“Bombardier is uniquely positioned in the Brazilian market, and as our extensive Latin American tour will attest, we are very committed to this important region,” said Frank Vento, Bombardier’s v-p of sales for the U.S. and Latin America.

The Challenger 3500 flew into São Paulo Campo de Marte Airport (SBMT) on Monday from Catarina Airport (SBJH), with additional tour stops planned after LABACE in Asuncion, Paraguay; Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Quito, Ecuador; Bogota, Colombia; and Panama City.

According to Bombardier, the Challenger 3500 offers the lowest direct operating costs in its category, along with a range of 3,400 nm and a top speed of Mach 0.83, allowing it to connect São Paulo with cities including Bogota and Panama City, as well as Dakar, Senegal on Africa's west coast. With a landing distance of 2,710 feet, the super-midsize twinjet easily made it into SBMT, which has a 5,249-foot-long runway.

For maintenance support in the region, Bombardier points customers to Maga Aviation, its authorized service facility at Catarina Airport in São Paulo, which provides line and baseline maintenance, parts, and tooling for Learjets, Challengers, and Globals. The company’s 300,000-sq-ft factory-owned service center at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) offers expanded capabilities, including a paint shop and AOG support, backed by a network of roughly 100 service locations worldwide.