Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

[Y. J. Foo 0]

From Boeing site:

 

Boeing Launches New 747-8 Family

-- Cargolux and Nippon Cargo to buy up to 34 aircraft

-- 787 technologies to increase passenger and freighter capabilities, improve fuel efficiency, reduce noise and emissions, provide unmatched operating economics

 

SEATTLE, Nov. 14, 2005 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today officially launched the new Boeing 747-8 program, which includes the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane and the 747-8 Freighter airplane.

 

Cargolux, based in Luxembourg, has ordered 10 747-8 Freighters and will take delivery of the first 747-8F in third-quarter 2009. It also holds purchase rights for 10 additional airplanes. Cargolux currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 13 747-400 freighters.

 

Nippon Cargo Airlines, based in Japan, has ordered eight 747-8 Freighters and will receive its first airplane in fourth-quarter 2009. The airline also acquired options for six additional airplanes. Nippon Cargo currently operates 13 747 freighters and has six more 747-400Fs on order.

 

Firm orders from the two launch customers are valued at approximately $5 billion at list prices.

 

"We are thrilled to have Cargolux and Nippon Cargo choose the new 747-8 and become the launch customers for this next generation of the proud and valuable 747 airplane family," said Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The 747-8 will use the technologies of the 787 Dreamliner to significantly increase the passenger and freighter capabilities of the 747 and offer greater fuel efficiency, improved operating economics, and be more friendly to the environment with reduced noise and emissions."

 

Both versions of the new 747 will feature GE's 787-technology GEnx engines, meet Stage 4 and QC2 noise requirements, have reduced emissions, offer lower trip costs and have an upgraded flight deck and an improved wing.

 

"The 747-8 Freighter will be very important in allowing Nippon Cargo to take advantage of the high expected cargo market growth in Asia," said Takuro Uchiyama, president and CEO, Nippon Cargo Airlines. "In addition, the 747-8 Freighter will be the world's most efficient cargo airplane, which is a key attribute with today's high cost of fuel."

 

Ulrich Ogiermann, president and CEO, Cargolux Airlines, said, "The Boeing 747-400 Freighter has been a cornerstone of our success, and I have high expectations that the 747-8 Freighter will build on that success and expand our capabilities worldwide. The increased payload capacity and much improved efficiency will allow us to continue our expansion and maximize our profitability. Equally important to us and the communities where we operate is the new standard the 747-8 Freighter will set in noise reduction."

 

The 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane will be stretched 3.6 m (11.7 ft) compared to the 747-400 to accommodate 34 additional seats in a typical three-class configuration. The only jetliner in the 400- to 500-seat category, it will have a range of 14,815 km (8,000 nmi) and will feature the new Boeing Signature Interior.

 

The Intercontinental will be quieter, produce fewer emissions, and achieve better fuel economy than any competing jetliner. It will offer 21 percent more lower-hold revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 and cost about 8 percent less per seat mile to operate. Compared to the A380, it will offer 22 percent lower trip costs.

 

The 747-8 Freighter will be 5.6 m (18.3 ft) longer than the 747-400 freighter. With a total payload capacity of 140 metric tonnes (154 tons), including tare weight, the 747-8F provides 16 percent more cargo revenue volume than the -400. The additional 117m³ (4,124 ft³) from the longer fuselage offers space for four additional main-deck pallets, two additional lower-hold pallets and two additional lower-hold containers. Cargo can be loaded and unloaded on the 747-8F using both the nose and side doors for maximum speed and efficiency.

 

Compared to the A380, the 747-8F will offer 20 percent lower trip costs. In addition, the 747-8F will maintain the operational flexibility of today's 747 freighters, with good profit potential at less-than-full loads.

 

The 747-8 Freighter complements the existing 747-400 freighter family, which is the air-cargo industry's standard. Both models accommodate 3.1-meter (10-foot) high pallets, providing operators with maximum flexibility.

 

The 747-8 also fits easily in today's aviation infrastructure, flying into more than 210 airports worldwide without additional, expensive infrastructure changes required.

 

The 747 freighter family currently constitutes more than half of the world's total freighter capacity. Boeing freighters of all models comprise more than 90 percent of the total worldwide freighter lift.

 

Boeing forecasts the need for about 900 airplanes -- passengers and freighters -- in the 400-plus-seat segment over the next 20 years. Boeing also forecasts that large widebody freighters (65 metric tons and above in capacity) will comprise 34 percent of the freighter market by 2024.

 

Hopefully MAS will get some of them!

[Rozhan 0]

This may steal the thunder out of the A380.

[H Affendy 0]

 

 

check out the wings man....im lovin it

[Walter Sim 1]

how suave winglets... look at them.

[Raj 0]

LOVELY winglets..

[Jamie H 0]

Gorgeous looking bird.......way sexier than the fat-ass A380!

[Mohd Idham 0]

MAS might be cancel off the order of A380....

 

Maybe, i repeat, maybe cancel the order....

[Fairul 0]

MAS might be cancel off the order of A380....

 

Maybe, i repeat, maybe cancel the order....

15277[/snapback]

 

 

dont cancel la..

just order this Boeing..heheh

nice wings though..

[Y. J. Foo 0]

MAS may want to use some 747-8s as replacements for 747-400s, but A380 will stay for sure as it suits well for high-demanding flights to LHR, AMS and SYD.

[Min Chun 0]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

LOVE CUTES WINGLETS!!!!!

Boeing, good job and well-done again!

[Nick R. 0]

who's more ELEGANT now??

 

 

[E Faizal 0]

hmmm.... Still 1 1/2 storey machine ka ?

[Nick R. 0]

1 1/2 storey..and stretched!

 

Brendan bro,75% finish oledi

[Ibrahim 0]

Boeing always come out with realy Superb Aerodynamic Aircraft like 787 Dreamiliner... Hope MH will buy some of this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Delwin A 0]

Good looking bird. Way sexier than the 744 imo

[Naim 6]

At last some news on the 747-8. Below some pics of 787 and 747-8 models I took at LIMA '05. The flexed wings look real sexy.

Click thumbs for biggies.

 

 

===

 

Friday, April 14, 2006

 

747-8 model turning heads

Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines showing keen interest in plane

 

By JAMES WALLACE

P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER

 

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Although The Boeing Co. has yet to announce a customer for the passenger version of its planned 747-8, two key airlines in Europe and Asia are seriously considering the plane.

 

Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines both operate older 747-400s, and the newer model would make a good fit in their respective long-haul fleets, executives of both airlines said in interviews.

 

The two airlines also are considering Boeing's 787, although the chief executive of Lufthansa said he is most interested in the 787-10, a stretch version that Boeing only recently said it will develop.

 

Chew Choon Seng, chief executive of Singapore Airlines, and Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chief executive of Lufthansa, talked with the Seattle P-I about their plans to order new widebody jets from either Boeing or Airbus. Their airlines are members of the Star Alliance, which on Monday welcomed its 18th member, South African Airways, during a ceremony here at the Johannesburg airport. The chief executives of the international airlines that make up the Star Alliance attended the event, as well as one last Friday in Zurich, Switzerland, in which Swiss International Airlines officially joined the alliance as the 17th member.

 

The upcoming decision by Singapore Airlines to buy what could be as many as 50 widebody jets will be one of this year's most important orders for either Airbus or Boeing.

 

Chew said the Singapore Airlines board will meet in early May to consider a possible widebody order.

 

"At that time, they will evaluate the situation and if the numbers fall the right way, I suppose the board will give management the mandate to proceed," he said.

 

The airline has been evaluating Boeing's 787 for nearly two years, but delayed a decision on ordering the plane until it had time to study the proposed A350 from Airbus.

 

The A350 will have a redesigned wing as well as the more efficient engines being developed for the 787. But the plane is still a derivative of the A330 with the same fuselage.

 

Steven Udvar-Hazy, the well-regarded chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., one of the largest customers for both Boeing and Airbus, recently said Airbus should have come up with an all-new A350 to challenge the 787.

 

Chew said he generally agreed with that assessment.

 

"The 787 is a good clean-sheet design," he said.

 

"Since they have given the A350 a new wing, new engines and new tail, they should go ahead with a new fuselage," he said.

 

Even so, Chew said his airline is still considering the A350 as an option to the 787.

 

"The A350 as it now stands is not without its attractions," he said, "particularly if the price advantage over the 787 can be significant enough."

 

In response to comments from Chew and Hazy, Airbus said this week that it continues to look at ways to make the A350 even better.

 

Boeing is also pitching the 747-8 to Singapore Airlines, as well as additional 777s. The airline is already the world's largest operator of the 777, but Boeing is keen to sell Chew the 777-200LR, which just entered passenger service as the world's longest-range commercial jetliner.

 

"It is in the running," Chew said of the 777-200LR. Singapore Airlines has five A340-500s from Airbus on its 18-hour non-stop flights between Los Angeles and Singapore and New York and Singapore. The 777-200LR likely would replace them on those routes.

 

The A340-500 is a four-engine design that has fallen out of favor with many airlines because of the high price of fuel. Last year, Boeing's twin-engine 777 clobbered the A340 in sales.

 

"With the price of oil today, a twin definitely has long-haul advantages," Chew said.

 

In addition to the 777-200LR, Chew said, Singapore Airlines is seriously considering the passenger version of the 747-8. It will be the first-ever stretch of the 747 and is due to enter service in 2009.

 

Boeing launched development of the 747-8 last year with orders for the freighter but has yet to land a customer for the passenger model, which will have about 35 more seats than the 420-seat 747-400. The 747-8 will have a more efficient wing as well as the new fuel-efficient engines under development for the 787. The 747-8 also will have more range than the 747-400.

 

"The size of the 747-8 will find a place in our future fleet, but the economics and the numbers have to be right," Chew said of the ongoing evaluation.

 

Singapore Airlines once operated a fleet of about 40 747-400 passenger planes, but that is down to about 28.

 

The airline has also ordered the 555-passenger A380 from Airbus, and will be the first airline to take delivery of the double-deck giant later this year.

 

The A380 is about six months late, but Chew said Airbus has told him the first plane should be delivered by the end of November, allowing it to be in service before the end of the year.

 

Lufthansa is also a customer for the A380 and, like Singapore, is considering the 747-8.

 

Mayrhuber, Lufthansa's CEO, described the 747-8 as "an attractive" plane. "We are seriously considering it."

 

Lufthansa has two ways of growing its widebody operations, he said. It can use A380s and Airbus A340-600s, or it can swap out older 747-400s for the bigger 747-8.

 

"We can trend in both directions," he said.

 

A decision could come before the end of the year.

 

Lufthansa had long urged Boeing to develop a bigger 747. In response, Boeing offered airlines a bigger 747 in the late 1990s but it would have used the same engines as the current 747-400. The project was killed when airlines did not order the plane, mainly because the price tag was too high.

 

Rather than expensive design changes, the new 787 engines are driving much of the efficiency gains in the 747-8 so it can be offered to airlines at a much more competitive price than that previous stretch version of the 747.

 

Lufthansa is also considering the 787 and A350. But Mayrhuber said he is only interested in the bigger 787.

 

"The minimum for us would be the 787-9. Even better would be the 787-10," he said.

 

That plane would seat upwards of 300 passengers and is likely to become a replacement for older 777-200s.

 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/266659_boeing14.html

[S V Choong 4]

Long live the 747s

[Seth K 3]

LH wants bigger, that will be 787-1 and SQ will probably acquire some 748 to replace their aging 747-in small amount since they have 773ER in order, A380 are just to big in most route but heck Boeing own the widebody market.................

[S V Choong 4]

http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/...ing+747-8I.html

[Seth K 3]

Yes, they should Eventhough this give a little impact to the A380 program, putting more capacity to the 748i can attract buyers who wants a plane or more with size ranging between 744 and 380. Lenghtening this 748 can also carry more cargo&pax which is another good reasons I hope Boeing don't over lenghtening 748 until they can easily get tail strike

[S V Choong 4]

I hope Boeing don't over lenghtening 748 until they can easily get tail strike tongue.gif

 

Originally, the 747-8F is conceived to have a slightly longer length than the 747-8 intercontinental. Rumour has it that, Boeing will lengthen the 747-8i to be the same length as the 747-8F upon customer's request.

 

Don't worry Seth, Boeing has already developed a tail strike prevention device and it is already been used on 777-300ER and 777-200LR. I am sure this device will be useful for the 747-8s

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Interesting... Is the hump going to be longer or what?

[S V Choong 4]

Interesting... Is the hump going to be longer or what?

 

Apparently so.... longer than 747-400 that is. Check out the video

 

http://www.747.newairplane.com/

[Tamizi Hj Tamby 1]

That's just wonderful...

[Tony 1]

According to one of Boeing's marketers, airlines can install beds up and near the back of the hump for Economy pax who are willing to pay a bit more for a bed to sleep in. Cannot be used during take-off and landing, though. Good idea I reckon, but could come at a price