Two BBJs came to Europe to fly for the Ford Motor Company from Stansted in 2001, although these have now returned to the US. Today there are several EBAN reader companies with more than one BBJ, with Saudi Aramco top of the list with five.

EBAN reader and operator of an original BBJ, Faisal Haddadin, md of Dallah Albarakah in Jordan, reports that he is very satisfied with the maintenance support, dispatch reliability, operating capability and value of the aircraft. Its best aspects are the range, baggage space and reliability. "We love our BBJ," he says.

Royal Jet's vp technical Ahmed Al Mammari says that the BBJ has good a dispatch reliability standard and high operational capabilities in comparison to similar size aircraft.

He adds: "The BBJ main strength's include the aircraft cabin size, the take off weight and reliability. There is good industry support for the aircraft's basic systems similar to that available for airliner aircraft in spheres including spare parts, maintenance facilities and authorised vendors and authorised service centres."

But Al Mammari says improvements he would you like to see include an increase in aircraft range and stronger BBJ support in the Middle East region. He disclosed: "Royal Jet is considering adding a pre-owned and a new BBJ to support its operation for the short and long term. This is in line with our five-year plan to have more than 20 aircraft by 2012."