The BBJ 777-9 - An Ultimate Head of State Business Jet

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In 2018 Boeing launched its flagship BBJ 777-9 during the MEBAA airshow. The launch of the world’s largest twin-engine and longest-range flying business jet ever designed generated great interest, and we wanted to update the aviation community about the significant progress on the 777-9 commercial program.

Last year, Boeing completed the first 777-9 for flight testing, which joined the robust test program that began years earlier. Known as WH001, the airplane performed ground testing ahead of its historic first flight on January 25, 2020. Today, WH001 and WH002, the second airplane, continue to conduct flight tests. This comprehensive series of tests and conditions, on the ground and in the air, under a variety of demanding operational, environmental, and meteorological conditions, demonstrate the safety and reliability prior to regulatory certification and delivery to the industry. Two more dedicated flight test airplanes will join the fleet in the coming months.

MEBAA is the right place to launch new products for BBJ. The Middle East region is the largest customer of Boeing Business Jets in the world and accounts for 30% of our all models sold, and a 50% of Boeing Business Jet widebody airplanes. Currently, several governments and some private individuals are exploring options for new VIP airplanes and with variable (hourly) operating costs less expensive than chartering much smaller VIP transport, our fleet provides compelling reason to invest.

Given the current pandemic the world is experiencing, owning one’s own VIP transport is even more attractive since despite the more involved cleaning and sanitization procedures transport companies are using, one’s own airplane is not used by others and provides an additional layer of comfort and security.

With a range of 20,370 km, BBJ 777-9 is the first business jet that can fly between any two airports on Earth, with a full payload, nonstop. It is hard to imagine, but when the airplane is able to fly more than half of the equatorial circumference of Earth, VIP passengers can travel anywhere in the world without stopping at connecting airports, refueling, or other inconveniences.

Our Head of State customers who prefer to minimize the complexity of their international travel with large entourages and high security requirements will find this BBJ 777-9 feature very appealing. However, it is not only the ability to fly nonstop that attracts them. The BBJ 777-9 features the widest, tallest, and longest cabin of any twin-engine aircraft. The spacious cabin measuring 342.7 sq m opens up almost unlimited interior design options customizable to any taste or need.

To demonstrate the versatility of the airplane’s spacious cabin, three leading design firms: Greenpoint Technologies, Jet Aviation, and Unique Aircraft Design created the first BBJ 777-9 interior concepts. These concepts show how the BBJ 777-9 can be transformed to suit the tastes of the most demanding VIP customer. From luxury presidential suites seen in the finest hotels to dining rooms, entertainment areas and private rooms, BBJ 777-9 makes flying ultra-long distances seamless and comfortable.

The BBJ 777-9 also puts a premium on passenger health and comfort in the cabin, many of which are unseen by the naked eye, but result in extraordinary differences the passenger can feel. Passengers aboard the BBJ 777-9 will breathe easier, experience less fatigue and dryness, and feel less jetlagged thanks to the aircraft’s lower cabin altitude, supplemental humidification, and advanced three-stage air filtration system (HEPA, gaseous/virus/bacteria, ozone removal) similar to those used in hospitals.

Another comfort enhancing technology not featured unique to the 787 family and 777-9 in the industry is Boeing’s dual-axis Smoother Ride Technology, that takes outside air pressure measurements, correlates the disturbances associated with turbulence, and makes small flight control movements to counteract the effect of that turbulence. This significantly reduces the shake, rattle, and roll of the airplane in turbulent conditions and makes the ride much more comfortable. The Smoother Ride technology reduces air sickness and discomfort while keeping passengers relaxed as they take in the world through large 787-style windows.

Inside the cabin, BBJ 777-9 also offers LED variable lighting to assist with waking and the sleeping cycles and helping passengers to transition smoothly between time zones. BBJ also adds noise insulation (VIP) for quieter more restful and relaxing flight experience and provides an extensive in-flight-entertainment (IFE) and connectivity backbone with 10G fiber optic data ability to allow 4K ultra HD, streaming entertainment and communications to every location in the airplane.

Boeing Business Jets has a growing number of Head of State government clients which migrated from four-engine to twin-engine large VIP aircraft due the improved reliability, cabin health, greater performance and higher-efficiency of these new technology aircraft. We expect that the BBJ 777-9 will be the future, standard largest Twin in the marketplace, replacing the iconic 747 series aircraft.

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