Alan Peaford
The Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) takes its place among the giants of the corporate jets on the Farnborough static park, the newest of the Ultras alongside the Gulfstream V and the Global Express but, its Boeing owners will tell you, already battle proven.
The BBJ was created through a joint venture between Boeing and General Electric in response to market demands for a large business airplane with a range of more than 11,000 km (6,000 miles). The solution was a high-performance derivative of the Next Generation 737-700 specifically designed for corporate and VIP applications.
The concept was born just four years ago and after showing a full-size cabin mock-up at Farnborough two years ago, the BBJ makes its Farnborough debut today.
Showcase
But it does so having just completed an exhausting showcase demonstration tour spanned 30 cities, three continents, and 77,000km (48,000 miles) - nearly twice the circumference of the earth. It included 19 press conferences and twice that number of demo flights in 40 days. And, says Lee Monson, BBJ's vice-president sales, it proved one thing beyond doubt: " A new era has dawned in executive jet travel in the forefront of a true revolution in comfort, productivity and value." Boeing linked up with Geneva-based PrivatAir, the private chartered airline to carry out the Grand Tour of Europe and the Middle East. Its route took it, in order, to Marrakech, London, Geneva, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Paris, Leeds, Fez, London, Madrid, Geneva, Cologne, Vienna, Munich, Milan, Geneva, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah, London, Dubai, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Dubai, London, Kiev, Moscow and Geneva. "We had an absolutely fantastic response everywhere we went," says James Hay, PrivatAir commercial director. "There are three things about the BBJ that people find truly amazing. The first is all the space and comfort in an executive jet. Second is the range of more than 11,000km (6,000nm). And the third is the affordability. "With the most super-deluxe service in the aviation world, PrivatAir can fly a group of 20 people nonstop from London to New York, and back again three days later, for the same per person price of commercial airline business-class tickets."
The brand-new BBJ, delivered to PrivatAir with completed interior on 10 March, performed beautifully, with 100% dispatch reliability on the tour.
"I like to say there's no substitute for being there, and certainly, there is no substitute for bringing people on board a BBJ, so they can see for themselves what we mean when we say the BBJ is an essential tool for doing business on a global scale," says Borge Boeskov, president of Boeing Business Jets, who accompanied the tour to a number of destinations. "The size of the platform allows business leaders to have everything they need aboard the airplane as they do business around the world: sleeping space, eating space, meeting space, communications equipment, everything you have at home that you also need in the business travel environment." Tailored The Boeing Business Jet combines the size of the 737-700 fuselage (110ft 4in, 33.6m) with strengthened wings and landing gear from the larger and heavier 737-800. This tailored combination provides owners with a business jet platform that has a range of 7,140 statute miles (6,200nm, 11,480km) and payload flexibility beyond that of any competitor. The airplane cruises at speeds up to .82 Mach, equivalent to a ground speed of 550m/hr, and can serve such routes as New York to Tokyo and London to Johannesburg. It is powered by the same CFM56-7 engines used on the Next-Generation 737 commercial airplanes, the world's most popular airliner. CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma of France, produces the engines. With an 807ft2 passenger cabin, the Boeing Business Jet has nearly three times as much space as the largest existing executive jets. The interior can accommodate a variety of configurations with space for conference rooms, executive offices and individual work areas that exactly match a customer's personal work and travel preferences.
In October last year Boeing announced a second member of the family, BBJ2. This is a derivative of the 737-800 and increases cabin size "and more room for luggage," says Monson."BBJ2 has about 25% more space than the BBJ in the cabin and 100% more space for luggage, and remember we already had more space than our competitors. That seems to be an issue with a number of people that we have seen."
The BBJ team see the large corporate market divided into three clear sectors: 20% for heads of state; 40% for wealthy individuals; and 40% for corporate owners either through companies or the fractional ownership programmes such as Netjets.
The success of the BBJ has surprised even Boeing. The original plan looked for six to eight aircraft a year. On the anniversary of certification BBJ had clocked up 56 orders and the team was looking at production rates of 25-30 aircraft a year reducing to 20 aircraft per annum into the future.
Reliability
"We have benefited from our airline heritage," says Monson. "The 737 has a great reputation as a working aircraft. It is built for reliability. Most corporate users of a BBJ will use the aircraft less in a year than an airline would use in a month and that means that most of our operators will never even have to go through a major engine overhaul. That makes quite a difference to the operation costs."
Boeing is looking to add value to its offer to customers and has launched the BBJ Gold Card. "It's a kind of an emergency card like a roadside assistance service," says Monson. "We are working with Delta on it. If any of our owners or operators have a problem they can call on Delta to help solve it through their local service operation."
The price for a green airplane is $37.8million for the BBJ and $46 million for the BBJ2. Costs for the interior range from $8-$15 million for the interior installation, fitting out, paint and installation of long-range auxiliary fuel system.
Source: Flight Daily News
