The Middle East is shaping up to be the site for the latest skirmish between Boeing and Airbus, in the shapes of their respective entries into the heavy end of the executive market.
The Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) variant of the 737-700 and the Airbus A319CJ (Corporate Jet) retail at $35 million and $32 million respectively for 'green' aircraft.
A BBJ cabin section mock-up is here, but sales of the aircraft have already been made to several unnamed Middle East customers. World-wide, says Gil Key, BBJ
programme manager and chief engineer, "a few" of the aircraft have been sold to heads of state, but most sales have been to "wealthy individuals or the Fortune 100 type of corporation."
"For a Middle East customer who carries a large staff with him, he can have a staff section, a VIP HQ and maybe also a section for his family."
The reason for the burst of early sales to entrepreneurs, he says, seems to be related to the flexibility of these businessmen. "You have the ability of an individual to make a decision, versus a CEO who has to go through the board."
There is also a reluctance among some companies "to show up at the airport with the CEO and a small staff" on board a large aircraft. However, he claims the BBJ is not appreciably larger visually than a Gulfstream V or Bombardier Global Express.
Indeed, he believes that some of the people now buying a Gulfstream V-class aircraft will discover how relatively confined the fuselage is on long hauls with, say, 14 people on board and will look around for a BBJ-class aircraft in a couple of years. Across at Airbus, meanwhile, the Middle East is regarded as "one of the big
markets" for the A319CJ, says John Leahy, vice-president, commercial. One of its seven sales so far is to an unnamed customer in the region.
"That's one of the reasons we've built in the range and payload we have. It offers non-stop flights to most key destin-ations out of the Middle East."
Size may not be everything, but Leahy believes a major selling point of the A319CJ - whose cabin mock-up is at Dubai - is the sheer space available.
The A319CJ, he claims, has some 10% more floorspace than the BBJ and, crucially, 210mm more width to the fuselage. This, he argues, gives considerable extra flexibility when it comes to internal outfitting.
"We're offering the ability to build in private cabins. One of the problems we see in the Gulfstream IV, V, Global Express and BBJ is that you can set up a nice
cabin for the boss, but when the crew want to go through to the galley, they have to go through his bedroom."
Source: Flight Daily News
