Andrew Doyle/MUNICH
Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) is gauging market demand for the addition of a larger aircraft to its corporate jet family, with a growth-weight version of the 757-200ER emerging as the most likely platform.
Though some operators have expressed interest in a "BBJ III" with more cabin space than the joint venture's existing 737-based models, vice president international sales Manfred Schindler says it is too early to determine the viability of such a development.
"The signals we are getting from the market are a bit confused," he says. Boeing and partner General Electric (GE) currently market a 737-700IGW BBJ and the BBJ II, which uses the stretched fuselage of the -800.
Boeing has been studying the development of a longer range model of the 757-200ER passenger aircraft, dubbed the -200ERX, which would marry greater fuel capacity with the strengthened wing and undercarriage of the -300 stretch. Schindler says this variant "looks like a good platform" for a BBJ III and "would be relatively easy for us to develop, but if the signals from the market aren't strong enough we are not going to do it".
The 737-700IGW, which combines the wing, undercarriage and engines of the -800, was launched as a BBJ but is now offered in passenger, cargo and combi versions. Schindler says the same approach could be used to bring the 757-200ERX to the market.
A potential sticking point is that the 757 could not be marketed as a BBJ under the Boeing and GE agreement as the aircraft is only available with Rolls-Royce or Pratt & Whitney powerplants.
Source: Flight International
