Otto to Build Fuel-Saving Bizjet Manufacturing Hub in 2028

Company aims to certify and deliver its Phantom 3500 around 2030 and make about 1,600 jets over the following decade.

Jack Daleo

Tuesday, September 01, 2026 at 02:00 PM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The windowless passenger cabin of Otto’s Phantom 3500 super-midsize business jet is designed to smooth out the airframe and achieve laminar flow. [Credit: Otto Aerospace]

Key Takeaways:

Otto Aerospace plans to break ground in 2028 on a manufacturing facility at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, for its fuel-efficient Phantom 3500 business jet, targeting production, certification, and deliveries by 2030.
The Phantom 3500 is designed to cut drag by 35 percent and fuel burn by 60 percent using a unique laminar-flow airframe, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030, supported by over $485 million in Florida state incentives.
Development for the Phantom 3500 is progressing with a Part 23 FAA certification basis agreed upon, an R&D hub being prepared for 2027 flight testing, and Flexjet confirmed as the launch customer.

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Otto Aerospace in about two years plans to break ground on a manufacturing facility for its fuel-efficient, super-midsize Phantom 3500 business jet, according to an official with the Jacksonville Airport Authority (JAA) in Florida.

The Jacksonville Daily Record reported that Tony Cugno, JAA’s chief operating officer, last week told a Jacksonville City Council committee that Otto will begin construction at Cecil Airport (KVQQ) in 2028. In 2025, Otto announced the relocation of its headquarters from Texas to Jacksonville and said it planned to base Phantom 3500 production there.