MARK PILLING
Just two weeks after Boeing celebrated 35 years of its venerable 747 first taking to the air, it is set to reveal at the show its latest thoughts on how to develop the aircraft even further.
Boeing is particularly keen on taking advantage of 7E7 derivative engines and other 7E7 technologies to offer its 747 Advanced concept greater performance.
"It will be more Advanced than the Advanced we briefed the industry on at Paris last year," says Larry Dickenson, senior vice-president of Asia/Pacific sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"The thing that drives it is you have to re-engine the aircraft with a new powerplant. If you look at the market a good portion of it can be satisfied with the 777-300ER. With this you can see ranges going out beyond that of today's 747s with incredible economics.
"But there will always be a need for an aircraft of around 400 seats," he says. "Now we can move the 747 out in range."
Asia-Pacific carriers such as Cathay Pacific Airways have been pushing Boeing to develop a more advanced 747.
Airlines need the extra performance partly because of the "superb new interiors they are developing", which add significant weight to the aircraft and therefore affect performance, says Dickenson. "With this aircraft we will give them the range back plus some."
The 747 Advanced would seat 400-500 passengers and offer an 8,000nm (14,800km) range.
The revamped 747 does not necessarily have to come to market after the 7E7, says Dickenson. "If the engines are certified and available, we have a clear path for it. Many customers are telling us they want it, but we need to get a better understanding of the powerplants available for it."
Boeing has been refining its 747 development concepts for several years, with enhancements such as the 747X, 747-400X Quiet Longer Range and 747-800X all proposed, but the potential use of 7E7 derivative engines seems to offer a major step-change in the performance of the aircraft.
Source: Flight Daily News
