The Hansa Jet began development during the 1960s, the selection of the forward-swept wing can be largely attributed to head engineer Hans Wocke, who had previously worked on the experimental Junkers Ju 287.

It possessed a spacious cabin, which was achieved due to its wing design, but was a relatively heavy aircraft, posing some issues during both take-off and landing.

Reasons for the programme's termination include increased competition from newer executive jets, a decline in the value of the US dollar, and the limited sales of the type.

At this time, the company was reportedly keen to reassert its authority as a design agency and looking for a suitable commercially viable project in light of limited funding available from the West German government.

[2] The aircraft's aerodynamics were shaped by in excess of 2,000 hours of model-based testing performed in various wind tunnels at sites such as the Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt in Göttingen, the Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium in Amsterdam, and Modane in France.

Despite this power, the Hansa Jet required a runway length of roughly 5,900 feet, preventing it from using most smaller airports thus limiting its practicality.

[6][2] While the German manufacturer would construct the majority of the airframe including the fuselage, engine pods and control system within its own factory, Hamburger Flugzeugbau formed partnerships with multiple other aircraft manufacturers, including Spain's CASA, Dutch Fokker and American Lockheed Corporation, which produced several other elements of the airframe abroad at their own facilities.

[2] According to aviation journalist Richard Collins, Hamburger Flugzeugbau's sales and service teams appeared to make only half-hearted efforts, which led to little customer interest in comparison to other business jets.

[2] Factors such as increased competition from newer executive jets and a comparatively poor safety record had contributed to dwindling orders during the late 1960s; during 1973, production of the type was ceased.

According to EADS, the multinational successor company to Hamburger Flugzeugbau, the decision to terminate further development efforts involving the Hansa Jet had been attributed to the intense international competition from rival manufacturers, as well as a decline in value of the U.S. dollar during this period.

During 1985, the German Air Force decided to replace its Hansas with newer Canadair Challengers in the VIP role; the service's ECM aircraft remained operational until their withdrawal in 1994.

[1] The Aviation Safety Network lists a total of nine accidents (six fatal) for the type,[12] a 20 percent hull-loss rate; but only the crash of the prototype was directly attributable to the aircraft's design.

[6] Because of the low number of airframes remaining, it became economically impractical to re-engine or install hush kits on the Hansa Jet's relatively-noisy CJ610 engines.