Long-standing Airbus operator Comlux yesterday ordered a pair of Boeing’s new BBJ Max 8s, which will be the first BBJs in the company’s charter fleet and Boeing’s first BBJ Max order from a Europe-based operator. The two BBJ Max 8s are due to be delivered in 2019 and both will be registered on Comlux’s Maltese air operator certificate, with one likely to be based in the Middle East and the other in Europe.

The two main factors driving Comlux’s choice of the 737 Max 8 are the additional range it will offer compared with the Airbus ACJ family. It is also impressed by the new BBJ’s superior cabin comfort, for which it promises a cabin altitude of just 6,500 feet when cruising at 41,000 feet.

Comlux president and CEO Richard Gaona told AIN that, after being in talks with Boeing for almost five years, his team opted to go for the BBJ Max because Airbus has still not resolved whether or not it will offer a re-engined version of its Airbus Corporate Jet family, based on the A320 Neo airliner program. “I am sure Airbus will react [to the commercial threat posed by the BBJ Max] and they can certainly match this with the Neo,” said Gaona, a former Airbus executive.

Asked whether he thought Comlux’s switch to Boeing would prompt Airbus to commit to offering a re-engined ACJ Neo model with extended range, BBJ president Capt. Steve Taylor commented: “I can’t understand why Airbus hasn’t launched the ACJ Neo, but I’m very happy with their business decision.”

Ahead of this week’s MEBA show, Airbus Corporate Jets president Benoit Defforge told reporters that the European airframer is working on a possible ACJ Neo program. The A320 Neo is due to complete certification in 2015 and, like Boeing with the rival 737 Max, is already supported by a long backlog of airline orders.

The BBJ Max 8 order is part of a fleet renewal process that Comlux started two years ago, when it invested in new Bombardier Global 7000 aircraft. The cabins for the new BBJs will be completed by the Comlux America facility in Indianapolis.

The main attraction for Comlux is the superior range offered by the re-engined BBJs–up to 6,550 nm (with eight passengers). With the same payload, an ACJ319 offers just under 6,000 nm range, while an ACJ320 has just 4,300 nm.

Comlux believes the additional range will be especially appreciated by Middle Eastern charter clients. The operator is also attracted by the prospect of reduced operating costs, mainly driven by the reduced fuel consumption of the Max’s CFM Leap engines.

“For many years, Comlux was perceived as a subsidiary of Airbus [because it operated ACJs], but this proves it is not the case,” said Gaona. “This decision was driven by business, not by emotion.”

BBJ Sales Spike

As 2014 draws to a close, Boeing told a MEBA show press conference that it has logged 13 new BBJ orders so far this year–representing its best sales performance in six years. Around 30 percent of these sales have come from the Middle East. Ten new BBJs have entered service so far in 2014, and Boeing is due to deliver a 777 next week and a 787 before year-end

Boeing Introduces New BBJ Boss

Boeing has appointed David Longridge as the next president of Boeing Business Jets, succeeding Capt. Steve Taylor, who has been appointed chief pilot of Boeing Flight Services. Longridge is relocating back to Seattle from the UK, where he has been serving as Boeing’s sales director. He was previously BBJ’s sales director when the division was first formed back in 1996.