How a Swiss jet gets made

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The plane is readied for painting Keystone

An employee works on the plane exterior Keystone

Cables are laid out on large tables before installation into the PC-24 Keystone

Work on the airplane fuselage Keystone

Preparing for a paint job Keystone

A crane lifts the airplane wings into position Keystone

One of the two PC-24 engines Keystone

Pilatus says that about 500 jobs were created for the manufacture of the PC-24 Keystone

View into the factory hall of Pilatus Aircraft in Stans, central Switzerland Keystone

An employee prepares cables for their installation into the PC-24 Keystone

The PC-24 from behind Keystone

A PC-24 for Australia's Royal Flying Doctor service, which offers medical services for rural areas Keystone

A dozen years in the making: a nearly-complete PC-24 Keystone

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The new business plane from Swiss manufacturer Pilatus has been 12 years in the making. A behind-the-scenes look at the assembly line shows what it took for the company to make its first-ever jet aircraft.

The PC-24 business jet can fly distances up to 3,600 kilometres (2,236 miles) and can reach top speeds of 815 kilometres per hour.

Pilatus invested more than CHF500 million ($522 million) in developing and producing the PC-24 at its operations hub in the central Swiss canton of Nidwalden.

The 17-metre-long business jet is the only one of its kind that can start and land on short runways made of sand and gravel. The company says that 84 orders have been placed for the PC-24 so far, 23 of which it plans to deliver in 2018. The US company PlaneSense, which offers a sort of time share model for business jets, is receiving the first PC-24.

Pilatus revealed in December that the PC-24 jet had obtained type certificates from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allowing for the planes to be delivered to customers abroad. 

Photos: Christian Beutler/Keystone