Boeing has announced the sale of of seven widebody business jets at the US National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) annual meeting at Orlando - but that was only the highlight of a number of orders revealed.
The Boeing deal, made up of orders already on the company's books but for undisclosed customers, consists of commitments for three Boeing 747-8s, three 787-9s, and one 787-8. No further details were given.
Additionally, Boeing launched the corporate version of the 737-900ER, christened the BBJ 3, with another two orders also for undisclosed customers.
Airbus revealed two orders for its narrowbody corporate jet range - and was able to name one of the operators. The first is for Austrian VIP charter operator Jetalliance which is to take two more A318 Elites, in a 14-seat configuration, to add to the one it already operates.
The other is for Monaco-based dealer Boutsen Aviation which has ordered two A319-based Airbus ACJs but they are ultimately for customers who are not being identified.
Of the pure business jet manufacturers, Raytheon Aircraft has announced orders for no fewer than 48 more of its Hawker range for fractional operator NetJets Aviation and its NetJets Europe unit.
The deal, nominally valued in excess of $1.5 billion, covers 30 Hawker 750s and 18 Hawker 900XPs for delivery between 2007 and 2009.
Cessna revealed that it already has 70 orders for the Citation CJ4, which was formally launched at the show and is not due to fly until the first half of 2008, with entry into service two years later.
The CJ4 is configurable for seven to eight passengers and is a larger, longer-range version of the CJ family.
Dassault made its big sales announcement last month when NetJets Europe signed for 24 Falcon 7X aircraft for delivery from 2008 to 2014. The aircraft has notched 1,020 flight hours in 335 flights and certification is due in early 2007 with deliveries shortly after.
Bombardier has been introducing the new Challenger 605 business jet, claiming the "widest stand-up cabin of any large-size business jet available today" and the Global Express XRS, which it says has the "largest cabin of any true corporate jet".
Source: FlightGlobal.com
