The aircraft was officially launched at the annual National Business Aviation Association Convention in September 1995 and construction of the first prototype commenced late in 1996.

[4] After development delays, the aircraft entered service in 2001 but with poor runway performance, erratic lift dump and brakes, a noisy cabin and a substandard cockpit.

The aircraft would continue to feature composite materials for the fuselage and have more powerful engines and new winglets to achieve performance improvements over the previous model.

[6] On 31 August 2009, the company indicated that it was slowing the development of the Premier II, moving its first delivery date into late 2012 or early 2013 due to the poor market for business aircraft.

Company Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture stated: "While we remain fully committed to certifying and fielding the class-leading Premier II as designed, we must be prudent in our evaluation of the current and forecasted global economic environment.

Based on these conditions, we have made the decision to extend the entry-into-service date to better align with the anticipated rebound of the business jet market.