Elon Musk’s private jet was recently at the center of controversy when the new owner of Twitter restricted accounts tracking his flight movements.
While Musk’s jet is no longer available for tracking in real time (however, you can follow his movements with a 24 hour delay on @Elonjetnextday in compliance with Twitter’s user rules restricting the sharing of real time location information), it has been spotted on the ground in China.
The aircraft, a Gulfstream G650ER, registered N628TS, was spotted on the ground at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on May 29, 2023, after a transpacific flight from the United States which involved a stopover in Alaska.
This is Musk’s first visit to China in three years. The American entrepreneur will reportedly meet with several high-ranking officials of a country where he has notorious business interests, including a Tesla factory near Shanghai.
N628TS is one of several aircraft used by the Tesla and SpaceX founder during his constant travel around the world. Musk is said to also use two other Gulfstream corporate jets, both G550s, with registrations N272BG and N502SX, respectively.
The Gulfstream G650ER involved in the Beijing trip is a long-range executive jet capable of flying up to 18 passengers over 7,500nm (13,900 km) without refueling. It has a top speed of Mach 0.925, which makes it one of the fastest executive jets in the market.
Recently Musk has reportedly acquired a Gulfstream G700, a new long-range jet model that is currently going through the final stages of its certification process, with the first deliveries to customers expected to take place before the end of 2023.
AeroTime had the chance to board a Gulfstream G700 aircraft at EBACE2023, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, between May 23 and 25, 2023. We learned about the different state-of-the art features of this aircraft from one of its pilots and filmed a walk through the cabin of the airplane, which is worth $75 million.
