Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
BOEING IS considering launching a family of stretched 747 derivatives in 1996 if market conditions are right. The possible introduction of the 700-seat aircraft emerged in evidence given by British Airways to a public inquiry on the expansion of London Heathrow Airport.
The airline filed letters from BA chairman Sir Colin Marshall revealing that he had written to Boeing chairman Frank Schrontz to clarify the manufacturer's position on new large aircraft as part of the airline's input to the Terminal 5 inquiry. The reply from Schrontz confirms that "...new variants of the 747, offering greater capacity and range, are high priorities for the aircraft manufacturer, with entry into service contemplated in the year 2000", says British Airways.
Boeing says that "...nothing is firm yet", but adds: "Making that go-ahead decision in 1996 would be a good time to do it, if we're going to do it."
Boeing confirms that the two derivatives of the 747 being considered for launch are the 747-500X, a longer-range model than the existing 747-400, and the -600X, with seating for possibly up to 550 in a three-class layout, and for over 700 in a high-density arrangement.
The new versions would have a new wing, wing-body centre section, and 777-size engines. The -600X would have an overall length of around 86m (280ft), just over 15m longer than the -400. The extra length would be made up of two 7.6m plugs inserted fore and aft of the wing-body join. The new aft-loaded wing, is also expected to be increased in span, to almost 79m, compared to 64m for the current aircraft. This is the maximum span possible, to allow the -500X and -600X to use present 747-size gates without a wing fold.
As well as increased payload, the -600X would offer a slight increase in range over the -400, to just over 12,950km (7,000nm). The -500X would be marginally longer than the -400, mainly because of the new wing-body centre section. The aircraft is expected to have a range potential between 14,500km and 14,800km, however.
Boeing was apparently swayed to derivatives of the 747, rather than an all-new design, by the high cost of the latter, and by airlines within its advisory group, which favoured the 747-X approach for commonality reasons. The company rejected the idea of a simple 747-400 stretch to around 80m, as the current wing would not provide enough fuel capacity.
In his letter to Shrontz, Marshall says: "We are particularly interested in the 747-600X, which would go part way towards satisfying our need for a larger aircraft, while providing a small, but welcome, increment on the range of the 747-400.
Boeing has been involved in studies of a new large aircraft with the European partners in Airbus Industrie. A 747-X launch would kill off any remaining chances of a transatlantic alliance developing.
Source: Flight International
