Deal highlights strong sales and deliveries in 2015. First BBJ completed by Sabena Technics will deliver by end of the year.
LAS VEGAS – Boeing Business Jets announced orders for four new BBJ MAX 8 airplanes at the National Business Aviation Association Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas. The first order to an undisclosed customer based in the Middle East is for three BBJ MAX 8s. The second order for an undisclosed customer in Asia is for one BBJ MAX 8.
“2015 has been a really strong year for Boeing Business Jets. We have sold seven aircraft and we are not done yet,” said David Longridge, president, Boeing Business Jets. “The BBJ MAX is doing really well with nine orders already on the books for both BBJ MAX 8s and BBJ MAX 9s. The 737 MAX program is on track for first flight scheduled in early 2016. We know the MAX will be a great airplane for our VIP customers.”
In addition to a strong backlog, 2015 has been a successful year for green deliveries and completed aircraft entering into service. Boeing Business Jets will end the year with 11 green aircraft deliveries to completion centers.
Seven completed airplanes entered into service this year; four BBJs and three BBJ 747-8s. Additionally, the first BBJ completed by Sabena Technics, managed by Boeing Business Jets as a turnkey airplane, will enter into service.
“Boeing Business Jets and Sabena technics worked together to develop a great product. As a turnkey airplane, BBJ managed the completion process and worked with Sabena technics directly and the outcome was fantastic. By the end of the year we will deliver the airplane to a very happy customer ahead of schedule, under budget and with a cabin substantially lighter than contracted, allowing better performance and further range of operations,” said Longridge.
Boeing Business Jets offers a wide variety of ultra-large-cabin, long-range airplanes perfectly suited for the private jet market. The product line includes high-performance derivatives of the commercially successful 737NG, 737 MAX, 787, 777 and 747-8 programs.
Customers have ordered 235 Boeing Business Jets and 213 aircraft have delivered since 1996 when BBJ was formed.
Boeing Forecasts $350 Billion Market for New Airplanes in Latin America
Boeing also projects the Latin American commercial aviation market will grow at one of the highest rates in the world over the next 20 years. As a result, Boeing forecasts the region’s airlines will need 3,020 new airplanes valued at $350 billion.
“The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow faster than the rest of the world over the long term,” said Van Rex Gallard, vice president, Sales, Latin America, Africa and Caribbean, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “This economic growth, coupled with rising incomes and new airline business models that give more people access to travel, is causing passenger traffic in the region to grow by 6 percent per year – well above the global rate.
“To accommodate that growth, we forecast that the region’s fleet will more than double,” he said.
Of the 3,020 new airplanes needed, 83 percent will be single-aisle airplanes, spurred by intense regional traffic growth. The widebody fleet will require 340 new airplanes as regional carriers continue to compete more strongly on routes traditionally dominated by foreign operators.
Average airplane age in the region’s fleet has been reduced from more than 15 years to less than 10 years since 2005, giving Latin America and the Caribbean a younger fleet than the world average. The region has been in a steady replacement cycle since the mid-2000s and that trend will continue as nearly 60 percent of the current fleet is replaced over the next two decades.
“Commercial aviation and economic expansion go hand-in-hand in this region and around the world,” Gallard said. “Passenger traffic grows as economies grow, and economies grow as commercial aviation grows. Every dollar that commercial aviation adds directly to a country’s GDP generates four times as much activity in the larger economy.”
Photo caption: The new BBJ MAX 8.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
