Boeing 747-8 news

[RoMax]

I don't know if that was ever officially said, but this was already said when recent Air China and Cathay Pacific deals were signed. And indeed a sign of bad sales. Partly because the 747 has too much competition from within the Boeing family and other Airbus aircraft. And the only market where the 747 is still attractive...the cargo market is doing really bad for years already.

But it's not the first time, in the past Boeing often bought aircraft (including Airbus aircraft) from an airline to sell them new aircraft. Often these were aircraft that had little to no value on the regular market and Boeing gave them an attractive deal to get rid of these aircraft. Same story with the 747 currently, though this time it's much bigger because it's not just to get one client, but to 'save' the program.

[sn26567]

Boeing reduces again the production rate of the 747-8, from 1.75 per month to 1.5 per month.

viewtopic.php?p=287775#p287775

[MD-11forever]

Finally some good news for the 747-8!

Korean Air to buy $3.7 billion of Boeing planes to upgrade fleet
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Korean Air Lines Co., the country’s biggest carrier, agreed to buy $3.7 billion of aircraft from Boeing Co. to modernize its fleet amid growing travel demand. The carrier is buying five 747-8 Intercontinentals, five 777-300ERs and one 787 Dreamliner, the Seoul-based airline said. Korean Air’s board today approved the purchase, for which initial agreements were announced earlier.
The orders for the new stretched version of the 747 jet, known for its iconic fuselage hump, will help the carrier retire 15 older 747-400 jumbos from its fleet by 2017. Korean Air, which competes with Asiana Airlines Inc., is part of a growing number of Asian carriers buying new planes from Boeing and Airbus SAS as economic growth in the region lifts business and leisure travel demand.
Korean Air will hold orders for 10 passenger versions of the stretched 747 jet with the latest deal. It has received three of the seven jumbo freighters it ordered.
The company expects to start taking delivery of the new planes starting in 2016, it said in June, when it reached an initial agreement with Boeing on the order. The company operates 35 747-400 jets and three of the new freighters, according to its website.

[sn26567]

Finally some good news for the 747-8!

Was in Luchtzak yesterday: viewtopic.php?p=288013#p288013

[sn26567]

The 747 program has kicked off production of its 1,500th aeroplane. The milestone aeroplane, a 747-8 Intercontinental, is scheduled to roll out of the factory in the second quarter of next year for delivery to Lufthansa.


Employees sign a special banner that commemorates the journey of the 747 to line number 1,500.
Gail Hanusa photo.

[MD-11forever]

According to the orders and deliveries overview on the Boeing website; Transaero has ordered 4 747-8s at the end of 2013:

http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/index.cfm

[RoMax]

According to the orders and deliveries overview on the Boeing website; Transaero has ordered 4 747-8s at the end of 2013:

http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/index.cfm

They signed a MoU for these 4 in November 2011, just days after signing an MoU for the same amount of A380's. That A380 order was already firmed up in June 2012, but the 747 commitment remained one big questionmark, until now.

So far that makes up for 51 (including 9 BBJ's and the relative uncertain order of two Arik Air 747's which I believe they already announced they'll convert these to 777's) of the pax version and 68 for the freigther version. They delivered 64 of the newest 747's so far, of which 9 to Lufthansa and 8 BBJ's and the rest freighters.

[sn26567]

This looks like one of the original 747-8s being repainted in LH colours prior to delivery:

[globetrotter]

Who is the last 748 BBJ going to? of the nine ordered eight have been delivered two to Abu Dhabi, three for Qatar, one each to Oman and Kuwait, Saudi had ordered one.

[sn26567]

Brand new Boeing 747-8s stored in the Arizona desert? Not very good news for the programme...

[MD-11forever]

Boeing’s Slow-Selling Jumbo Jet Buoyed on Talks With Emirates

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. is talking to Emirates, the world’s biggest operator of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, about a potential sale of its rival 747-8, in what would be a major boost for a program that’s struggled to gain customers.
Emirates’ need for better fuel burn on its largest jets has opened a window of opportunity for Boeing, which has begun discussions about the 747-8, said John Wojick, senior vice president for sales and marketing at the Chicago-based manufacturer’s commercial airplane unit.
While neither the A380 nor the 747-8 are major commercial hits, sales of the Boeing model have been particularly lackluster, forcing the manufacturer to slash production rates. Emirates is the biggest buyer of the A380 and Boeing’s popular 777, the largest twin-engine aircraft available, and the carrier has pushed Airbus to put more efficient engines on its A380.
“The new engines they’re pressing Airbus to put on their plane, we’ve already got four of them,” Wojick said in an interview in Doha, Qatar, at the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association. “We think we have a good solution.”
Emirates’ possible interest come as Boeing sees renewed interest in the 747-8, which at this point is operating only by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, one of four customers for the passenger variant. Talks are at an early stage, and Wojick didn’t say how many aircraft Emirates may want to buy.
“We’re talking to anybody who has the size and capacity requirement, and obviously Tim is someone” who fits into that category, said Wojick, referring to Tim Clark, the Emirates president. “We’d love to be able to get the airplane into Emirates.” Clark said separately that he’s focused on his major order for Boeing 777X, which he announced last year.

[RoMax]

I doubt EK is going to buy the 747-8i. I would like it very much, but I doubt it will happen. Boeing has said for years they are talking with customers and see the potential for new orders in the comming 6-12 months, except for some Air China and Korean Air orders, not much came out of that. Even LH said their latest 747-400's will be replaced by the more efficient 777-9X instead of ordering more 747-8i's which is only a bit larger.

EK wants a re-engined A380 and I'm sure they are pushing Airbus really hard to come up with this. And they have a large MoU for the 777-9X. MAYBE if Boeing sells them really really cheap, EK could take them as an interim solution until the new T7's start to arrive in large numbers. But I doubt even that.

[Wohowbagger]

I'm just fishing here:
maybe the 748i has earlier slots available than fi the 777X (from 2017?)?
if they want to grow even faster, the 748 could have a purpose in some sort of 'short-term temporary solution'?
perhaps that when the new T7's are delivering (let's say from 2020 onwards), they could redesign the 748i to f versions?

[RoMax]

I'm just fishing here:
maybe the 748i has earlier slots available than fi the 777X (from 2017?)?
if they want to grow even faster, the 748 could have a purpose in some sort of 'short-term temporary solution'?
perhaps that when the new T7's are delivering (let's say from 2020 onwards), they could redesign the 748i to f versions?

That's what I ment with the second part of my post. IF Emirates would take the 748i, it would be a temporary solution until large numbers of the 777X start joining the fleet (that will not be before 2019-2020).

Though to make something like that succeed, Boeing will have to give them really cheap and still...what about the aftermarket. They will be very new (read:expensive) to convert to freighters (there is no conversion program yet I believe, so that would also require an addition certification program) and there will not be many airlines willing to take these 748i's unless they can get them very cheap.

[globetrotter]

Brand new Boeing 747-8s stored in the Arizona desert? Not very good news for the programme...

Is that one that was ordered by a Saudi prince who passed away, it should be going to Saudia Royal flight not stored, except for Kindom Holdings and some VIP Jet easing companies all big aircraft are with Sauia RF in that country no one owns then individually.

[globetrotter]

Asiana Cargo might become a 748 operator if they manage to get some through a Chinese company reports ch-aviation.

[sn26567]

The next US presidential plane Air Force One might well be a 747-8, with a possible purchase date in 2016 for delivery in 2018. Normally the two current 747-200s serving as Air Force One should not have been replaced before 2021, but since there are doubts about the continuation of the 747-8, the US Air Force may have to act relatively fast.

For security reasons, a four-engine aircraft (or rather two aircraft) is highly desirable for Air Force One. And, of course, it has to carry the Boeing name: would you imagine the American president flying an Airbus?

[sn26567]

Wall Street Journal Exclusive: Boeing confirms 747-8 production rate cut from 1.5 to 1.3 jets per month starting in September 2015.

[sn26567]

The next US presidential plane Air Force One might well be a 747-8, with a possible purchase date in 2016 for delivery in 2018. Normally the two current 747-200s serving as Air Force One should not have been replaced before 2021, but since there are doubts about the continuation of the 747-8, the US Air Force may have to act relatively fast.

The USAF confirmed it will buy Air Force One replacements in 2016 for delivery in 2018. But there is no guarantee it'll be a 747-8.

[sn26567]

Boeing is cutting the 747-8 production rate to one per month.