Phenix Jet Cayman, the Grand Cayman-based executive charter and aircraft management operator, has added a Bombardier Global 8000 to its managed fleet, the first of the type to fly under the company's Cayman Islands air operator's certificate.

The company said on 13 October that it expects to take delivery of a second Global 8000 in the first quarter of 2027, two years after it first signalled its intention to operate the type.

The Global 8000 is Bombardier's flagship business jet. The Canadian manufacturer quotes a top speed of Mach 0.94 and a range of 8,000 nautical miles at long-range cruise, enough to link Asia and Europe, or Asia and North America, without a stop.

Cayman registry at the centre of the deal

The aircraft, a 2025-built airframe, was placed on the Cayman Islands register in September, according to aviation industry fleet records, and has since been operating in the Asia-Pacific region, with flights recorded through Tokyo and Bangkok.

In announcing the addition, the company said the move reflects growing demand among ultra-high-net-worth aircraft owners in the Asia-Pacific region and internationally to use Cayman-managed flight infrastructure to protect the value of their aircraft and to optimise global dispatch operations.

The Cayman Islands Aircraft Registry, administered by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands, has long positioned itself as a leading jurisdiction for privately owned business aircraft, and the VP-C prefix is a familiar sight on large-cabin corporate jets on ramps from Hong Kong to Geneva.

Who owns Phenix Jet Cayman

Phenix Jet Cayman SEZC was established in February 2020 and has its registered office at Willow House, Cricket Square, George Town. The SEZC designation marks it as a special economic zone company.

The company is a subsidiary of Japan's Sojitz Corporation, one of the country's largest trading houses with around 400 subsidiaries, which acquired it in 2021 to hold a Cayman air operator's certificate for long-range charter flights. Sojitz also owns the U.S.-based Phenix Jet group, which holds a U.S. Part 135 certificate and operates from Teterboro, New Jersey, with bases in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The group's managed aircraft are predominantly large-cabin, ultra-long-range types. Its U.S. certificate covers a mix of Bombardier Global 6000, 6500 and 7500 jets alongside Gulfstream G550 and G650 variants, according to industry fleet data.

Under the Cayman certificate, the Global 8000 joins a Global 7500, a Boeing Business Jet 737-700 and a Gulfstream G280 that was added in mid-2026, according to the same data.

A long-planned arrival

The Global 8000's arrival in Cayman has been more than two years in the making. In June 2024, Phenix Jet announced plans to take two of the type in 2026, saying at the time that most of its managed aircraft were already capable of operating direct flights from Asia to Europe. The group then reported managing 19 aircraft across its U.S. and Cayman certificates, including six Global 7500s, two of which had been inducted earlier that year.

The company had also secured approvals to route flights over the Arctic and Antarctic regions, a response to the closure of Russian airspace to many operators since 2022.

Bombardier began final assembly of the first production Global 8000 in 2025 and targeted entry into service late that year, making the Cayman aircraft among the earliest examples of the type to enter charter management.

The timing also follows a separate order placed by Sojitz with Bombardier in October 2025 for one Global 6500 and one Global 8000, which the Japanese parent said would support what it described as Japan's first shared-ownership programme for large, ultra-long-range business jets capable of trans-Pacific flights.

Sojitz said at the time that its selection of the two Bombardier types reflected the company's long experience operating the manufacturer's aircraft in Japan.

Sojitz has not said publicly whether the aircraft in that order are the same airframes now destined for Phenix Jet Cayman's managed fleet, and the operator's announcement did not identify the owner of the jet now on the Cayman register.

For the Cayman Islands, each large business jet placed on the local register brings registry fees and associated legal, corporate services and insurance work to the jurisdiction, which competes for such business with rival registries including Bermuda, the Isle of Man, Aruba and San Marino.