Embraer order Praetor 500 seats one less and is bit shorter and cabin is bit smaller. However its also bit lighter and is easy on fuel burn as engines are small too. Because Praetor 500 is lighter it can go into more smaller airports then Challenger 350.
Some of you are saying Praetor 500 does not compete with Challenger 350 but they do. No competitor makes exactly the same jet size. But believe me they are in the same size jet bracket.
The range of both aircraft are similar and the this is the range needed for inter USA travel. This is the market that is seeing growth because airlines are cutting back on routes that serve smaller cities and thin routes.
Praetor 500 sitting one or 2 less then Challenger 350 depending on cabin configuration is an advantage. It takes less people to fill up the airplane. Its better to leave clients at gate and fly full airplane to maximize profits then to fly with empty seats and loose revenue. Operating cost is directly impacted by size/weight/full burn.
The only good news is that Embraer has filled up its order slots and now when Flexjet wants to refresh then Challenger 350 slots are available and Praetor 500 wont have as flexible slots available. Supply chain is having problems keeping with orders as is the 250 order will take time to fill.
Bombardier did very good job at taking the large business jet market wirh Global 8000 and Gulfstream is screwed with having to build to jets to compete with it.
Now Bombardier needs to refresh Challenger 350. Challenger 3500 is just interior and flight deck update. Bombardier needs to make shorter version of Global 8000 with new design shorter wings and smaller engines for that size aircraft. The fuselage of Global 8000 is made of lighter material and with new wing and engines the new Global 3000/3500 will have better performance then Praetor 500/600.
Challenger 350/3500 is the biggest revenue stream for Bombardier as far as orders and aftermarket sales go. They have to refresh the Challenger 350. This order for 250 Praetor is the writing on the wall. Or is it a warning.