Solomon Lew's Bombardier Global 7500 VH-8LA flies a 22-minute loop from Essendon Fields

Solomon Lew's Bombardier Global 7500, tail number VH-8LA, flew a short round trip from Melbourne Essendon Airport on Monday, November 9, 2026. The aircraft departed Essendon Fields at 10:44 UTC and landed back at the same airport at 11:06 UTC, spending 22 minutes in the air. The flight covered a great circle distance of 119 nautical miles, or 137 miles.

The Bombardier Global 7500 is an ultra long range jet with a top speed of Mach 0.925 and a ceiling of 51,000 feet. During this flight, the aircraft reached a highest altitude of 37,975 feet and a top ground speed of 469 knots. The estimated fuel burn was about 168 US gallons, producing about 1,611 kilograms of carbon dioxide, roughly equal to driving a car 3,989 miles. The Global 7500 can fly 7,700 nautical miles without stopping and seat up to 19 passengers.

This was the third landing at Essendon Fields tracked for VH-8LA in the 30 days before this flight. The previous landing at the home base was on November 7, 2026, two days earlier. The aircraft had been on the ground for about 7 hours after arriving from Sydney. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft visited five airports in three countries and flew about 10,441 nautical miles. The longest leg in that period was a 5,609 nautical mile flight from Essendon Fields to Dubai on October 24, 2026.

Solomon Lew is chairman of Premier Investments, whose Just Group holds brands including Just Jeans, Portmans, Jay Jays, Dotti, Jacqui E, Peter Alexander and the Smiggle stationery chain. Born in 1945, he began in the family rag trade and has been a significant shareholder in Coles Myer, Country Road and Myer over four decades. The aircraft is registered to Luft Aviation Charter Pty Ltd, a Melbourne aircraft management operator, and is based at Essendon Fields. The short flight from and to the same airport may have been a training or maintenance flight.

The aircraft's average ground speed on this flight was 320 knots. Essendon Fields' longest runway is 6,302 feet, and the field sits at an elevation of 282 feet. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft logged 4 flights, 22.9 hours in the air, and an estimated 98,909 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

If Solomon Lew was aboard, the brief hop would have been a quick return to the aircraft's home base after a prior stop in Sydney. The flight used only 2 percent of the aircraft's maximum range, a fraction of its capability. The aircraft was first tracked by public ADS-B signals in September 2026 and has since logged about 31.8 flight hours year to date, according to public flight data.

The Bombardier Global 7500 has four living zones and a 54.4-foot cabin. A Global 8000 upgrade is available. The aircraft's estimated fuel burn is 450 US gallons per hour.