Work begins on the Boeing Business Jet 3

Chicago: Boeing said it has begun work on the first Boeing Business Jet 3 (BBJ3), a new, larger business jet based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-900ER (extended range), which entered commercial service and was certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration in April 2007.

Certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency occurred in April 2008.

Launched in 2006, the fuselage of the first BBJ3 has been completed and is currently being prepared for a 2000-mile trip to the company's Renton, Wash., final assembly facility.

The BBJ3 is the latest edition of Boeing's 737-based business jets that include the original BBJ, the BBJ2 and the 737-700. Boeing also offers modified versions of its other airliners and sells them as 747 VIP, 777 VIP and 787 VIP.

The BBJ3 is 138 feet and 2 inches long and offers the owner and seven guests, 1120 square feet of floor space. The bare body of the aircraft will cost about $64.5 million, with another $20 million required to finish the cabin.

Boeing said a range of technology will offer greater reduction in fuel consumption. According to Boeing, the plane uses the engines of the next-gen 737 plane which are more fuel efficient and emit less NOx. There are also new winglets that are designed to reduce emissions – by about 5.8% or 540 gallons on a 5800 nautical mile trip. Those 540 gallons provide the plane with an extra 270 mile range. 

The integration of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) allow pilots to take more direct routes and the plane can be ordered with carbon instead of steel brakes, which save about 700 pounds of weight.

Boeing said that eight BBJ3s have been ordered so far, in addition to 177 more orders for BBJs and wide-body VIP versions of the 747, 767, 777 and 787. About 30 of those jets are in service today with a clientèle that includes media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who own two Boeing 767 jets as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who has two 757 models.