SEATTLE (dpa) – Elite luxury between heaven and earth goes by one set of initials: BBJ – or officially, Boeing Business Jet.
In the mid-1990s the plane manufacturers Bombardier of Toronto, Canada and Gulfstream of Savannah, Georgia, opened a whole new dimension when they began building their eight- to 19-seat business jets Global Express and Gulfstream V for the world’s wealthy and powerful. There was no end to the accolades at the time.
The two twinjets could fly nonstop more than 12,000 kilometres, something which only the four-engined Airbus A340 or the powerful Boeing B747-400 could do.
It meant that the captains of industrial and business empires, like the billionaires from the oil countries, were no longer restricted to the long-distance, wide-bodied jets.
This development put a scare into Boeing and Airbus, and their response was not long in coming. The Europeans created the A319CJ Corporate Jetliner with the impressive range of 11,650 kilometres.
The plane could easily cover such routes as Paris-Singapore, Dallas-Tokyo or New York-Seoul while offering 38 first class passengers the highest level of comfort.
In technological terms the ACJ is also of the highest order. The Hamburg, Germany-built A319 is licensed even for poor-visibility instrument landings of the “IIIB” category. The first VIP jet of this kind by Airbus was delivered in December 1998 to the Kuwaiti corporate group Al Kharafi.
But the industry leader, U.S. giant Boeing, has in the meantime stolen the show from its European competitor. The Boeing Business Jet has become a huge hit with the powerful, the wealthy and the VIPs around the world.
Boeing offers two versions: a smaller BBJ 1 for a price of about 40 million dollars, in which the fuselage of a normal Boeing 737-700 is outfitted with the wings of a B737-800, and the somewhat larger BBJ 2, which is basically a business jet version of the B737-800.
The first BBJ 2 planes, costing 50 to 55 million dollars, are to be delivered starting in 2001. Their range is a maximum 10,620 kilometres with eight passengers – they can also be outfitted to carry 25 to 50 passengers – only slightly less than the 11,500 kilometres for the BBJ 1.
The BBJ, jointly produced by Boeing and the jet engine maker General Electric, has had enormous success. In a market which recently was estimated to be at most 200 such jets over the next ten years, Boeing has booked orders for 71 BBJs, with 46 of these already having been delivered.
Borge Boeskov, who for many years was a Boeing vice president and who since 1996 has headed the Boeing Business Jets division, is more than pleased.
“Our expectations have been far surpassed,” the aeronautics engineer from Iceland said. “We are setting a new standard in the world of business aviation with the BBJ.”
Business jets are usually delivered in “green” condition – meaning that they are completely devoid of internal outfittings. These are installed by specialised companies who equip the plane with additional fuel tanks and tailor its interior to the specific demands and wishes of the customer.
A leading position in this new market is taken up by the Lufthansa Technik company in Hamburg, one of five in the world which are specialised in this lucrative field.
The company just recently booked a contract, comprised of 10 firm orders and 20 options, to outfit 30 BBJs. This will mean that Lufthansa Technik, since the 1980s the world market leader for outfitting VIP and business jets of all types, will have to expand its capacities once again.
Starting in 2001 the company will have two complete halls with six assembly sites, giving Lufthansa the capacity to work on eight planes a year, be they a B747-400, Boeing 777 or an Airbus A340. The company is virtually booked out through the end of 2002.
Lufthansa Technik’s story all began with an old Boeing 707 in 1978. A former Lufthansa captain who was flying for the emirate Abu Dhabi, had the idea of re-outfitting the four-engine B707 into a VIP airplane.
Some Lufthansa engineers scoffed at the idea and most warned against such a “daring” project. But today, the customising of normal jets into VIP or government planes now is one of the best areas of business for the Lufthansa concern.
The re-outfitting of a 175 million dollar B747-400 into a luxury plane for an oil magnate from the Gulf region can easily cost another 100 million dollars.
