Reno, Nev.-based Aerion on Sunday announced at the Dubai Air Show that it is now accepting letters of intent for a “limited number” of early delivery positions for its 12-seat supersonic business jet (SSBJ). “Market demand has driven our decision to begin accepting deposits,” said company vice chairman Brian Barents. “As confidence in the Aerion program has grown, we have been approached by a number of prospective customers wanting to secure positions. We would be remiss to ignore their enthusiasm and interest.” The SSBJ is priced at $80 million (2007 dollars) and positions are being secured by refundable deposits of $250,000. Aerion appointed Zurich-headquartered ExecuJet Aviation Group its exclusive sales representative for all areas of the world outside the Americas; Aerion will accept letters of intent directly in the Americas. The company expects to sign an established aircraft manufacturer to serve as program integrator by next summer, and entry into service of the 4,000-nm, Mach 1.6 SSBJ is now planned for 2014.