Otto Aerospace’s Phantom 3500 aircraft is priced at about $19.5 million per jet. The all-carbon-fiber materials and laminar-flow aerodynamics are touted to streamline the aircraft’s performance and operating costs.
The Phantom 3500 also is being designed to fly on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can cut emissions by 90% and fuel costs by 40%, even taking into account SAF’s higher price per gallon.
“Business jets have long relied on derivative designs built from traditional aluminum structures, aerodynamics, and manufacturing techniques from decades past,” said Paul Touw, CEO of Otto Aerospace. “Freed from legacy systems and guided by a true clean-sheet, ultra-efficient vision for the future, we rethink everything to unlock performance gains once thought impossible.”
When cruising at 590 miles per hour, according to Otto’s design, the Phantom 3500’s emissions performance should be nearly equal to electric vehicles (averaged per seat) traveling at 55 MPH.
And while some aviation observers described the jet as “windowless,” in stories, Otto’s Phantom 3500 is being designed to debut what it calls the world’s first ultra-wide passenger windows, some 72 inches wide each. These reportedly will offer passengers a more panoramic view of the earth’s curvature at 51,000 feet altitude, according to Otto Aerospace’s announcement of the aircraft.
“Flexjet’s decision to build their fleet around the Phantom 3500 speaks volumes about where aviation is headed,” Otto CEO Touw added. “As one of the largest business jet orders in private aviation history, this marks a turning point in the industry’s move toward sustainable and efficient air travel.”
The Phantom 3500 will be built at Otto’s planned manufacturing campus at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida. The project is partially funded with a $515 million incentive package from the state of Florida.
Texas-based Otto Aerospace, which changed its name from Otto Aviation recently, is made up of leadership formerly connected to industry companies such as Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics, Xojet, Bell Helicopter, Hyundai’s Supernal and others.
