By David Kaminski-Morrow in Farnborough
Boeing says it expects to emerge as the clear favourite for large freighter orders over the next two decades, as it continues to refine its 747-8F aircraft.
Speaking at the Farnborough air show today, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Alan Mulally said that the airframer still expected the high-capacity market to cover only 900 aircraft.
While two-thirds of these would be split, he claims, evenly between the Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft and the Airbus A380, he expects Boeing’s 747-8F to be “clearly preferred” over the A380F, owing to its compatibility with the present 747 freighter fleet.
Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines launched the 747-8F towards the end of last year with a combined order for 18 of the type. Airbus has firm commitments for 25 A380Fs, after losing an order for two further aircraft from Emirates.
Meanwhile Boeing is still refining the definition for the passenger Intercontinental version of its 747-8 and has yet to decide whether to increase the length of its fuselage to match that of the freighter version.
Speaking at the Farnborough air show today, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Alan Mulally said: “We’re designing it with the help of airlines. They’re helping us firm up what that passenger version should be.
“We need, with the help of those airlines, to decide how many passengers they want and trade between weight and payload. We have some space that we can trade.”
He says that the company has plenty of time because it is not intending to firm the configuration of the 747-8 until next year.
While Boeing has secured orders for the freighter version of the aircraft, it has yet to seal a significant agreement to supply the passenger type. But Mulally says that the airframer is still in talks with more than 25 airlines over supplying the 747-8.
Source: Flight International
