Story ID: 
Bombardier's Challenger 3500 Reaches 100th Delivery
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Milestone reached two years after the latest version entered service
Word Count: 273
Bombardier’s Challenger 3500 has set a new speed record: the fastest in the super-midsize category to reach 100 unit deliveries, according to the Montreal-headquartered airframer. Announcing the milestone delivery this morning, Bombardier handed over the 100th Challenger 3500 to an unnamed customer just two years after the aircraft reached the market.
The latest iteration of the Challenger 300/350 family, the 3500 entered service on a promotional tour in September 2022 before the first production model was delivered in late October during a delivery ceremony at the 2022 NBAA-BACE in Orlando, Florida.
According to Bombardier, the model has found strong demand from both corporate and charter operators. These included a deal announced in December and detailed in May with NetJets for 12 of the twinjets and options for up to 232 more.
Bombardier has been ramping up deliveries to a target of 150 to 155 a year, with the Challengers leading the gains in 2024; through the first half, Challenger deliveries (also including the 650) were up almost 40%.
Along with a change in nomenclature from the Challenger 300/350 family, the 3500 brought to market some of the high-end interior features from its flagship Global 7500. This includes the Nuage seats and added equipment such as a Safe Flight autothrottle system. Other new features include voice-controlled cabin management and wireless charging.
“The entire Bombardier team is proud that our super midsized jets have been the category’s best-sellers for more than a decade. Our customers continue to benefit from the comfort of the widest-in-class cabin and from the peace of mind provided by exceptional dispatch reliability of 99.8%,” said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, executive v-p of aircraft sales and Bombardier Defense.