Shamal

"The Shamal is a mid-size business jet known for its climb and cruise performance, balanced handling and economical fuel consumption. At current gas prices, you can fly a Shamal coast to coast for just $50,000, without even a second thought for the Ozone layer."

- ElitasTravel.com description.

The Shamal is a multi-role, jet powered business aeroplane in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and a commuter jet in Grand Theft Auto V. It is manufactured by Buckingham in GTA V.

Similar business jets also makes multiple appearances in other Grand Theft Auto games, although they are uncontrollable and are only used as props.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The aircraft model is based on the Learjet 55. The aircraft nose is considerably longer than most Learjets, also resembling a later model. It has a light grey paintjob.

The most prominent appearance of the Shamal is during "Freefall," when the plane's interior can be seen. The size of the interior appears larger than usual for an aircraft with a relatively small fuselage, and the interior incongruously features 16 windows (9 on the left and 7 on the right) when the plane features only 8 outside.

The Shamal is also used in the mission "Saint Mark's Bistro," where it is flown by Carl Johnson to Liberty City and back.

Grand Theft Auto V
The Shamal appeared in the first trailer and later in one of the screenshots for Grand Theft Auto V, implying that it would most likely return as a functional plane. This was confirmed by the gameplay trailer, that showed the Shamal being flown over the Land Act Dam.

It is based on the Learjet 45. It also has 16 passenger windows in total (8 on each side). The role of the aircraft is now different though — Instead of being a business jet, like in GTA San Andreas, it is now a commuter jet, being owned by multiple airliners for short regional flights. The role of a private jet is now attributed to the Luxor, a plane very similar to the Shamal (Only with a black paint scheme) also manufactured by Buckingham.

The Shamal is featured in the singleplayer mission, "Caida Libre," where it is shot down by Michael De Santa and then chased by Trevor as it falls down into the desert. It is also stolen by players for Lester in the Online mission, "Landing Strip."

Liveries
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the Shamal has only one possible livery that come in the color grey. In Grand Theft Auto V, however, similar to the Jet, the Shamal bears the liveries of multiple airlines such as MyFly, Air Emu, Air Herler, and FlyUS.

Notable Owners

 * Javier Madrazo
 * Tony McTony
 * Devin Weston
 * Forelli Family

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The Shamal is available to the player at the beginning of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in the Los Santos International Airport, acquirable by trespassing over the security booth if the player still hasn't got the pilots license. It is a considerably fast jet, being on par with the Rustler, and due to it's availability, the Shamal is a good choice for players who are just learning to fly jets, as its handling is balanced and it's easy to land on runways. Also, despite its interior size, it can transport only the player.

Grand Theft Auto V
The Shamal is now a much faster aircraft, beating any propeller-powered plane in the game and being on-par with the Luxor as the fourth fastest aircraft in the game, beaten by the Vestra, the Besra, and the P-996 LAZER. Similar to San Andreas, it is also available from the start in Los Santos International Airport and, due to having a great and responsive handling, it remains as a great plane for learning to pilot and similar to the Luxor, players can easily evade police attention if they didn't purchase a hangar yet. In the hands of a moderately skilled pilot, it can easily win any multiplayer races. Thanks to the speed and handling of the aircraft, it also has a great capability for performing stunts, being able to steer and perform aileron rolls extremely fast.

Similar business jets
Despite none being named as "Shamal" or even accessible to the player, many similar private jets appear as an uncontrollable and, in most cases, stationary aircraft in the series.


 * In Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, there are multiple parked business jets around the Francis and Escobar airports based on the Learjet 35, the GTA Vice City's model was used in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the original Shamal, it is identical, the only difference being the split windshield.
 * In GTA Advance, during Freedom Flies, a cutscene shows a plane similar to the Shamal.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, a jet smiliar to the Learjet 35, appears in the mission Love on the Run.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, a jet also similar to the one featured in Liberty City Stories but with a considerably larger fuselage and wing span, decorated with blue stripes, appears in multiple missions. It is first seen in the introductory mission, Soldier, as belonging to the dealer Victor Vance meets. It is later seen parked in Escobar International during Snitch Hitch and ends up being escorted out of the airport by Vance while it takes off in Farewell to Arms.
 * In Grand Theft Auto IV and its expansions, business jets still remain unattainable (nor can any other planes be flown), but such vehicles can still be found at Francis International Airport, featuring an updated design. One such plane is used by Kenny Petrovic during the Hangman's NOOSE multiplayer mission, where in up to four players must hold back NOOSE units and escort Petrovic from his jet at Francis International Airport to a safepoint.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, a jet also similar to the Learjet 35 is introduced in the first mission of the game, used by Huang Lee to travel to Liberty City. For the rest of the game, just as in GTA IV, is an uncontrollable aircraft at the Francis International Airport. It can also be seen taking off and landing in the runways, but never taxing or moving from them.
 * In the GTA IV DLC The Ballad of Gay Tony, Ray Bulgarin owns a much larger business jet named Ghawar. Also, the only time a regular business jet isn't stationary is during the mission Bang Bang, where Luis must destroy one before it takes off.
 * In Grand Theft Auto V, the Shamal was finally obtainable again, but it isn't the only business jet present in the game: the Luxor, the Vestra and the Miljet are three other available private jets. The Luxor can be considered the Shamal's "sister plane" as it is almost identical, with only the paintjob and some interior features changing. There was also supposed to be another business jet, but it was probably scrapped early in development.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * Los Santos International Airport, one parked in the northwest corner, just north to the runway (near the western border of the area)
 * Easter Bay International Airport, two of them next to southeastern access road, another one next to the fuel tanks, where the Stinger can be also obtained. Notice the plane is locked and only unlocks after completing the mission Learning to Fly.
 * Las Venturas Airport, two of them between the two sets of ramps, west of the runway. During the mission Saint Mark's Bistro there is another one at the northern end of the runway, which is supposed to serve CJ as transport to Liberty City and back.
 * During the mission Freefall, a Shamal flies to Las Venturas and CJ is supposed to hijack it with a Dodo, eliminate the strike team, take control of the plane, and land the plane at Las Venturas Airport. It can be kept after the mission.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * Can be purchased for $1,150,000 on ElitasTravel.com.
 * Can be found at various areas in the Los Santos International Airport :
 * One parked next to a Luxor in the southeast corner, where a Jet usually parks.
 * Two parked north to the two runways, facing the buildings, west to Devin Weston's hangar.
 * One (AI-controlled) will often land on the third runway (northward), and park next to a Luxor near the two Jets, west from the two mentioned above.
 * One (AI-controlled) may appear on the tarmac and will park in front of Michael's hangar. Sometimes it will be a Luxor instead.
 * One (AI-controlled) can frequently spawn flying mid-air above Palomino Highlands when flying over the area, however, it can not be hijacked. This is quite rare due to Shamals never really seen flying anywhere else around the map, other than landing on the North-West runway of LSIA.

Grand Theft Auto Online

 * On rare occasions NPCs can be seen landing at the airport, it is unknown whether this is a glitch or not.
 * Can be purchased for $1,150,000 on ElitasTravel.com.

General

 * In Arabic, Shamal means "North", however it is pronounced "Shemal", not "Shamal". This may possibly be a play on the word shemale, which is slang for a transsexual woman.
 * Pictures of the Shamal, amongst other planes, can be seen in the Max Payne 3 multiplayer map Tiete River Docks. Interestingly, the said game was released by Rockstar in 2012, a year before Grand Theft Auto V.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, while in the interior of the Shamal during "Freefall," the player can shoot out the lights and headrests.

Grand Theft Auto IV

 * The Shamal can be seen on the TV show, I'm Rich, in GTA IV, possibly suggesting that it was cut from the game.
 * It is notable that the Shamal featured in the show was colored gold.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * In Grand Theft Auto V, every Shamal regardless of airline has one window on either side that's marked with what looks similar to a red crosshair.
 * The Luxor also bears this feature.
 * In Grand Theft Auto V, the Shamal and the Luxor cannot be bought in the internet as Trevor, as Trevor's hangar does not fit these jets.
 * In Grand Theft Auto V, despite the plane being able to sit 10 people including the pilot in Online mode, it cannot sit more than 2 persons in singleplayer. If one reunites all three protagonists and enters a Shamal, one of the two will sit next to the player and the third will stand out of the plane.

Navigation
Shamal (SA) Shamal Shamal Shamal