There are now 50 Boeing Business Jets in service, the manufacturer said yesterday, and between them they've logged more than 13,800 flights and 31,400 flight hours, "with 99.9 percent reliability and no major technical issues reported."

"We continue to see a wide range of applications for the BBJ," Lee Monson, president of Boeing Business Jets (Booth 7673), said here.

"The versatility of the airplane allows owners to create a unique environment tailored to their specific needs and seating requirements, whether it's for eight or 100 passengers; for private use, corporate, charter or even government transport," he said.

Boeing notes that a BBJ 2, Europe's first, will soon be available for charter operations through the UK's Multiflight Ltd, based at Leeds/Bradford Airport.

Other recent BBJ developments include:

• An aircraft designed for medical evacuations and charter operations that flew the farthest distance yet for a BBJ: 6,854 nmi (12,694 kilometers);
• An all-business class 48-seat PrivatAir BBJ that will next month begin operating as a scheduled Lufthansa flight from Dusseldorf, Germany, to Newark, New Jersey in the U.S.; and
• An intercontinental VIP transport BBJ that the South African Air Force will begin using later this year.

Two BBJs are on static display at EBACE 2002.