Boeing's 7E7 Dreamliner team could be authorised to offer the aircraft for sale to airlines as of 15 December this year, it was said at the show yesterday.
And a third – short range, higher capacity – variant of the aircraft is now on the drawing board, it was revealed.
John Feren, vice-president, customers, 7E7 programme said: "This is a ‘do or die' programme and very important for us. Our credibility is on the line."
He added that authorisation to offer the aircraft to customers is on the board agenda at the next meeting a week on Monday.
"We are fully committed to this and we are very confident that we won't disappoint you."
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The third variant came to light during Feren's presentation. It is the 7E7 SR (short range) which would carry 280 passengers in a two-class configuration up to 3,500nm (6,500km).
It joins the two existing versions: the baseline 7E7 with 200 tri-class seats and a range of 7,800nm; and the 7E7 stretch with 250 tri-class seats and a range of 8,300nm.
Feren said that recent development efforts had focused on the passenger cabin "because it is very important to upgrade the passenger experience".
The Dreamliner will have more headroom, wider seats and wider aisles than existing aircraft, together with larger luggage bins.
Source: Flight Daily News
