Boeing

PrivatAir, considered in the industry to be the ultimate private airline, will put the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) through its paces on a five-week Grand Tour, beginning today in Geneva. The tour will include demonstration flights and briefings for customers and press in almost two dozen cities in Europe and the Middle East.

The airplane is the first of three PrivatAir BBJs and the first ever to be used in private charter service. PrivatAir serves a broad mix of globally minded customers. Flight crews are fluent in each customer's language and trained at the Swiss Hotel School, providing the highest standards of comfort and service.

The BBJ is a special, high-performance derivative of the Next-Generation 737-700. Specifically designed for corporate and VIP applications, the BBJ combines the size of the 737-700 fuselage (110 feet 4 inches, 33.6 meters) with the strengthened wings and landing gear from the larger and heavier 737-800. The BBJ has a maximum range capability of 7,130 statute miles (6,200 nautical miles, 11,475 kilometers) while requiring less than 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) of runway.

For travel that combines ocean crossings and shorter trip segments, the BBJ offers a combination of comfort, versatility, and value. The jet has nearly three times the cabin space of competing long-range executive jets. It cruises at close to the speed of sound, and offers the range to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and is able to fly in and out of smaller, less congested airports with the facility of smaller airplanes. The BBJ cabin configuration is flexible and may be designed to provide maximum comfort and productivity, and to suit the individual preferences of customers. The BBJ costs only slightly more to own and operate than its less spacious competitors.

Over the next two and a half weeks, the PrivatAir BBJ - a 28-seater will crisscross Europe, visiting almost a dozen cities, including Rotterdam, Stockholm, Paris, London, Cologne, Vienna and Munich.

The second part of the tour will focus on the Middle East and popular ports of call to and from the region, including non-stop flights from Jeddah to London and from London to Dubai. The tour will conclude with visits to Kiev and Moscow.

Web sites:www.boeing.com/bbj
www.privatair.com