Seattle: Under pressure from rival Airbus, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Sunday unveiled the 747-8 Intercontinental, the latest version of the iconic 747 series, at its plant in Everett near Seattle.
The new aircraft, a long-haul model with a seating capacity for 467 passengers, is marketed by Boeing as an airplane with the lowest operating costs in its range and one that is "greener" than others as Boeing engineers concentrated their efforts on reducing fuel consumption and enhancing environmental performance.
The new model at an average list price of $317.5 million (Dh1.1 billion) clearly targets the Airbus A380, which was delivered in 2007 by the European consortium as the largest passenger aircraft ever built with space for up to 555 passengers.
Boeing responded with a longer and newly-designed version of its 747, which it thinks will attract carriers all over the globe due to — what Boeing says — its lower overall operating costs.
Lighter
"The new 747-8 Intercontinental is more than 10 per cent lighter per seat than the Airbus A380 and consumes 11 per cent less fuel per passenger," said Randy J. Tinseth, vice-president Marketing of Commercial Airplanes at Boeing. "That translates into a trip-cost reduction of 21 per cent and a seat-mile cost reduction of more than 6 per cent compared to the A380."
The 747-8 was launched in 2005 and first built as a freighter, of which 18 planes have already been ordered by Cargolux (Luxembourg) and Nippon Cargo Airlines (Japan). Other pre-orders came from Atlas Air and Cathay Pacific.
For the passenger version, Lufthansa of Germany was the first to order 20 planes, followed by Korean Air with five. Altogether, 33 orders for the passenger plane currently are in Boeing's books, including eight orders from private customers and governments.
Boeing does not reveal the names of its private clients, but some of the Boeing Business Jet VIP guests spotted at the launch were apparently from Kuwait and Brunei.
Together with the cargo version, 107 planes have been pre-booked by customers. The largest single customer for the 747-8 cargo is Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, which has ordered 15 planes.
However, total orders for the 747-8 are nowhere near the delayed 787 Dreamliner, for which Boeing says it has 847 pre-orders.
The maiden flight of the passenger version of the 747-8 is planned for "spring 2011", according to Elisabeth Lund, Vice-President and Deputy Programme manager for the 747 programme at Boeing. "This is the largest plane we have ever built," said Jim Albaugh, Boeing's executive vice-president and President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
When the 747 series was first inaugurated in 1969, it was by far the largest commercial airplane on the market and maintained this role for around 40 years, until Airbus introduced the A380. The 747 also was a commercial success, as 1,418 planes have been sold since.
However, airline analysts say that orders for the new plane are comparably low so far, as only two airlines have committed themselves to buy it. But Saj Ahmad, sector expert and aerospace analyst based in London, told Gulf News that he expects orders for the 747-8 to pick up soon, and he also sees Middle East carriers among the customers.
747 programme chief Lund said at the launch that Boeing "is very optimistic" regarding sales.
"It has not been a great time for big airplanes in the last period of the economic downturn in the sector, but we are in an upcycle again. We believe this airplane will sell very well."
Interest
So far, there are no orders from Middle Eastern airlines, but dominant players such as Emirates have shown interest, according to industry sources. Emirates has a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes and currently is the biggest 777 operator worldwide. However, Emirates has not publicly announced interest in the new Boeing 747-8.
"The Middle East is one of the biggest markets for big airplanes," Boeing's marketing executive Tinseth told Gulf News on the sidelines of the 747-8 launch event in Seattle.
"There are only a handful of carriers, but there is a need for large planes. Interest is there, absolutely, but it is going to be difficult. We have been talking to Middle East carriers, but we do not disclose names."
Boeing's first new customer for the 747-8, Lufthansa, has ordered 20 of the passenger version, with an option for 20 more. Nico Buchholz, Executive Vice-President of Lufthansa Group Fleet Management, said that his company has expressed its commitment to the new 747 model even though it also recently bought a couple of Airbus A380s.
"An A380 you have to fill first before it becomes economical," Buchholz said. The seat-mile costs, an important calculation factor for carriers, of both planes are "close to each other", he added, saying that Boeing's calculation of significantly lower fuel cost per passenger "depends on the configuration" of the plane. Lufthansa has found "a compromise in pricing," he said.
