GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Promising economics and performance attract interest
Boeing may launch a stretched 7E7 before the baseline and related short-range (SR) variants because of a slowdown in interest in the latter from Japanese carriers and apparent growing enthusiasm for the former from international airlines.
The manufacturer is meanwhile attempting to coax Emirates into becoming a launch customer.
Boeing had provisionally outlined plans to develop the shorter-fuselage model (or models) first for entry into service in 2008, with the follow-on stretch emerging around 2010. Sources close to the programme say the bulk of the interest is in the prospective 250-seat stretch, while the baseline appears to be attracting far fewer enquiries.
The principal reasons are the apparently promising economics and performance of the stretch in a relatively untapped market, versus a more straightforward 210-seat replacement for the 767-200 fleet, which is centred predominantly in North America - a market which shows few signs of generating significant orders in the near future. The timing of the SR variant has become more uncertain, with the decision by Japan Airlines (JAL) to delay any possible 7E7 order for several more months (Flight International, 27 January-2 February). All Nippon Airways, although not yet close to issuing a formal request for proposals, retains strong interest in the SR.
Emirates president Tim Clark says the airline has been briefed by Boeing on the 7E7 and asked to be a launch customer, but does "not know enough" to commit. Although ostensibly too small for Emirates' needs, Clark says it is difficult to ignore an aircraft that could offer such impressive operating economics. "We need to know more about it and exactly what it will do. I don't even know what the price is, officially," he says. The airline is also concerned that the 7E7's composite fuselage could be more susceptible to dispatch delays than conventional structures as a result of ground-handling incidents.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MAX KINGSLEY-JONES IN LONDON
Source: Flight International
