Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] Business Jets today announced it is offering a new, more spacious Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). The new product offering is a business jet version of Boeing's Next-Generation 737-900ER commercial jetliner. It offers 35 percent more cabin space than the BBJ and 11 percent more cabin space than the BBJ 2.

"BBJ customers value long-range capability and cabin size and this product offering enhances both attributes of the BBJ family," Boeing Business Jets President Steven Hill said during a media briefing at the Dubai Air Show. "It is fitting that we announce our intention to offer this airplane at the Dubai Air Show, because we believe the airplane will have wide appeal in this region."

Twenty-six percent of the BBJ worldwide fleet is based in the Middle East. The majority of BBJ 2s has been ordered from this region and they make up almost half of the area's BBJ fleet.

With a launch order, the airplane would be named the BBJ 3. It will offer 1,120 square feet (104 square meters) of cabin space. With up to five auxiliary fuel tanks, the jet will have a maximum range of 4,765 nautical miles (8,825 km).

The BBJ 3 would join the BBJ and BBJ 2 family of business jets, which are based on the commercially popular Next-Generation 737-700 and 737-800, respectively. Providing unsurpassed levels of space, comfort and utility, the BBJ cabin offers 807 square feet (75 square meters) of space, nearly three times the interior space of competing models with similar range capability. The BBJ 2 offers 25 percent more cabin space and twice as much cargo capacity as the BBJ.

Hill also announced the BBJ Program has signed a service contract with Jet Aviation Dubai, making it the second authorized service center in the region. Jet Aviation will provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services as well as warranty work on behalf of BBJ customers.

This contract brings the total number of authorized service centers to eight, including three service centers in Europe, two in the United States , one in Singapore and now two in the Middle East region. The BBJ fleet also is supported by five dedicated BBJ field service offices and a network of more than 450 Boeing and GE support representatives on six continents.

To date, 102 BBJs have been sold since program launch in 1996. There are currently 83 BBJs in service around the world. The fleet has generated more than 168,000 flight hours to date and 66,250 flights, with an industry-leading 99.9 percent dispatch reliability. For more about the BBJ, visit the web site.