Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing company, Bombardier Aerospace, plans to tender to supply the new jet to the Irish Government.
Before extras, all of the jets produced by the group cost under the €50 million sum earmarked for the new aircraft. If the Government chooses to buy Bombardier's Global Express (BGE) plane it would be the envy of the international community.
The price of the aircraft varies depending on what specifications are required by the buyer.
But the price tag starts from around €40 million. The company has already delivered one of the planes to the Japanese Government but because they are so new to the market very few others have been built to date.
Mr Alex McRitchie, public relations manager at Bombardier in Belfast, said the BGE has the biggest cabin of any corporate jet in the world at just over 8 feet wide and 48 feet long. "The cost of it would very much depend on what a client would want. If they wanted more seating, for example, then that would obviously leave less room for a conference room or bedroom," he said.
A configuration allowing seating space for 19 passengers would leave sufficient space for a bedroom, office and other facilities.
The plane can fly 6,000 nautical miles non-stop which means it could fly Irish Ministers from Dublin to Beijing non-stop or from almost anywhere in Europe to New York. It is designed for high-speed comfortable travel, Mr McRitchie said.
Depending on how much the Government wants to spend, it could buy a BGE and still have enough for either a Challenger 800 or Challenger 604 aircraft. The C800 can seat 14 to 19 passengers and can fly non-stop from London to New York. It costs €25 million.
The C604 can take up to 19 passengers but has a shorter range and costs €22.2 million.
At Flight International magazine, business editor Ms Kate Sarsfield said the Boeing 737 Business Jet could also be acquired for less than €50 million. The craft is much bigger than other corporate jets on the market but is the same price as the much smaller BGE "because Boeing makes so many of them". It comes with the plush interior of all private jets.
"Boeing are only entering this end of the market and they have got to be more price competitive than the more established companies in order to attract clients," Ms Sarsfield said.
