Boeing has signed an agreement with Alsalam Aircraft Company, making the company the first authorized service center for Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) in the Middle East region. The agreement was announced during the eighth annual Dubai International Air show.

Based in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, Alsalam will provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services as well as BBJ warranty work on behalf of Boeing.

“This new service center operates in the heart of the Arabian peninsula, which is the geographical link between the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. It expands our global access and allows us to continue meeting the needs of BBJ owners worldwide,” said Lee Monson, president of BBJ. “Alsalam is a proven provider of aircraft maintenance and technical services for large, commercial and military aircraft, and we are pleased to formalize our partnership with them.”

More than 27 percent of BBJ customers are from the Middle East region.

With the addition of Alsalam, BBJ operators can chose from three service centers in Europe and two in the United States for authorized service and warranty work. Those include: Associated Air in Dallas, Texas. DeCrane Aircraft Systems Integration Group (PATS) in Georgetown, Del.; Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany; and Jet Aviation in Basel and Geneva, Switzerland.

Boeing Business Jets is a joint venture with General Electric launched in July 1996 to respond to market demand for a larger, more capable business airplane that can fly more than 6,000 nm. There are more than 69 BBJs in service worldwide.

FMI: www.boeing.com/commercial/bbj