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Aviation News October 2006
Boeing new jumbo orders are slow
(Bill
Rigby) NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. may not see a
substantial order for its new 747-8 passenger jumbo before the
end of the year, even as Airbus delays deliveries of its
competing A380, one of the U.S. planemaker's executives said on
Tuesday. The full effect of Airbus's problems will take some
time to be felt, the executive said, and would not have an
immediate effect on sales of Boeing's largest plane. "We
potentially could have an order by the end of this year,"
said Dan Mooney, vice president of Boeing's 747 program, on a
conference call on Tuesday. "But confident is probably too
strong a word." Earlier this month Boeing said its new
747-8 Intercontinental -- its largest ever passenger plane --
will be the same length as its hot-selling 747-8 freighter,
despite calls by some airlines to make it shorter. The
Chicago-based planemaker reckons the greater capacity and
improved wings on the new plane will attract customers in the
long term, but so far it has notched firm orders for only three
747-8 Intercontinentals from unnamed buyers. Meanwhile, it has
orders for 44 747-8 Freighters. "We don't have a launch
customer," said Mooney, despite "pretty broad"
interest from airlines. Boeing is in discussions with a number
of carriers, including Dubai's Emirates Airlines [EMAIR.UL],
Mooney said on Tuesday, but declined to predict when a firm
order for a large number of 747-8 Intercontinentals might be
made. Under its latest plan, the 747-8 Intercontinental will be
18.3 feet (5.6 meters) longer than the 747-400, its largest
existing plane. Originally Boeing proposed that the new plane
would be about 12 feet longer than the 747-400.
The
new plane will fit 467 seats, bringing it closer to competing
with Airbus's A380, which is set to be the largest ever
commercial plane, with 555 seats in a standard layout. Despite
wiring problems pushing the A380 up to two years behind
schedule, Mooney said there was not yet any firm indication that
Boeing will be able to pick up orders from disappointed A380
customers. "I think all of that (Airbus A380 delays) is
going to take a while to sort itself out," he said.
"Airlines are going back and trying to understand what that
situation means for them, and how they might adjust their fleet
plans." So far no airlines have canceled A380 orders, but
Virgin Atlantic [VA.UL] has pushed orders back by four years and
Emirates said it was looking at leasing Boeing 777s to fill the
gap caused by delays. Others have said they are considering
their options. Emirates President Tim Clark said last week the
airline was interested in buying Boeing's 747-8s, but would
prefer Boeing's original plan for a shorter stretched version.
A slightly smaller plane that can fly longer distances would
suit some Asian and Middle Eastern airlines, which tend to fly
longer routes than European and U.S. carriers. Boeing's Mooney did not rule out the possibility of two
stretched versions on Tuesday, but said it would prefer to offer
only one version -- the same length as the freighter -- for
reasons of simplicity. "It's primarily a business decision whether it makes
sense to develop and offer two different configurations,"
said Mooney. "Does the market size justify that? We think
it's a benefit to reduce complexity of what's in an airline's
fleet. Right now we think the right answer is one
(configuration)." The first 747-8 freighter is scheduled for delivery to
Luxembourg's Cargolux
in late 2009. The first Intercontinental is tentatively set for
delivery a year later.
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