Elon Musk has ordered a brand-new, top-of-the-line private jet, the Gulfstream G700, according to a June report by the Texas-based news site Austonia. The new aircraft is likely to replace Musk’s go-to private jet and it's going to cost him upwards of $78 million. The delivery is expected to be in early 2023, but there may be delays.

The Gulfstream G700, launched in October 2019, is expected to replace Musk’s current jet, the G650ER, as per the report. Musk regularly travels by his private jets and in 2018 alone, the billionaire flew more than 150,000 miles on his G650ER, per flight records obtained by the Washington Post.

Musk currently has four jets, three of which are made by Gulfstream and the fourth is a Dassault 900B, the first jet he ever bought. Musk’s jets are registered to Falcon Landing LLC, a shell company with ties to Space X, as per the FAA registry, Business Insider reported.

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The new Gulfstream G700 is the ‘stretched’ version of the G650, and it measures 109 feet and 10 inches in length, and 25 feet and five inches in height, according to the website of American aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. It has a cabin length of over 57 feet and a maximum range of 7,500 nautical miles, which means the plane can fly from Austin to Hong Kong without the need for refuelling.

The G700 also offers the industry's largest, most inventive, and most versatile cabin and it is powered by two high-thrust Rolls Royce engines.

The cabin of the aircraft is split into various sections including a lavatory, galley, forward seating, entertainment suite, and dining area, as per the jet's virtual tour on the website.

Operating the G700 can be very expensive as flying the jet for 400 hours can rack up operating expenses of around $3.5 million, according to Liberty Jet. Fuelling and engine overhaul are the most expensive parts of operating the plane.

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However, Musk is no stranger to expensive operating costs as his regular travels rack up high costs. Due to this Musk and several celebrities have come under fire for the CO2 emissions of private jets. Musk’s October 31 flight on his G650ER from Los Angeles to New Jersey racked up $14,829 in fuel expenses, according to the Twitter account @ElonJet, which tracks Musk's flights. Musk was in the air for around four and a half hours, as per the tracking account.

Landed in Teterboro, New Jersey, US. Apx. flt. time 4 Hours : 28 Mins. pic.twitter.com/vVhU1X7ywB

— ElonJet (@ElonJet) October 31, 2022

Musk has tried to fly incognito to avoid tracking on Twitter. He even contacted Jack Sweeney, the operator of the account and has been using a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) program to fly incognito in the sky, Business Insider reported.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)