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Korean Air orders five Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft

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  • Korean Air orders five Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft

    Korean Air (KAL) has placed an order for five Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft.

    The airline expects to receive the aircraft from 2013 to 2015, says an airline spokeswoman. She adds that all five are firm orders.

    The carrier will operate the aircraft on long-haul routes to the Americas and Europe, she adds.

    "The 747-8 Intercontinental fills the void between the 300 and 550-seat airplanes in our future fleet," says managing VP of KAL's passenger business division Won Tae Cho.

    The airline already has seven 747-8 freighters on order and expects to get its first in the fourth quarter of 2011.

    It also has orders for 10 Airbus A380s and 10 Boeing 787s. The carrier will receive its first A380 at the end of next year, and will operate it on flights to Los Angeles, says the spokeswoman.

    KAL's 747-8 passenger aircraft will have 467 seats, in a three-class configuration, and an 8,000nm range, says the airline.

    It will also be quieter and more fuel-efficient, it adds.

    "The 747-8 provides nearly equivalent trip costs and 13% lower seat-mile costs than the 747-400, plus 26% greater cargo volume," says the airline.


    Excellent news for the B748i programme.

    LH is no longer the only airline customer for the B748i and as LH, KE is also a A380 customer.
    TAP - Transportes Aéreos Portugueses

    Voe mais alto. Fly higher.

    www.flytap.com

  • #2
    good news indeed

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    • #3
      Wow. That Awesome. Hopefully this is just the start of more orders to come.


      Boeing Signs Second 747-8I Customer


      Dec 4, 2009



      Korean Air has signed a $1.5 billion agreement with Boeing for up to five 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft, marking a key breakthrough in the region for the stretched variant of the 747, which until now had been sold only to Lufthansa.

      The memorandum of understanding covers deliveries between 2013 and 2015 and will complement the fleet of five 747-8Fs that Korean also has on order.

      The Asian carrier was not previously linked to the passenger variant, having ordered the larger Airbus A380. Korean has 10 of the double-deck A380s in the backlog, with the first due for delivery in 2010. The airline currently operates a fleet of 21 747-400s and a single -400M combi, which will be replaced with a mix of A380s, 747-8s and 777-300ERs, the first three of which are now in service.

      The Korean order is a significant boost for the 787-8I, which so far has had relatively few sales compared to the freighter that has taken around 78 firm orders to date.

      Assuming the MOU is firmed up, the latest contract should push -8I orders to 32. Twenty of these have been ordered by Lufthansa, while the balance is made of up VIP/Boeing Business Jets. Additional talks are also understood to be taking place with Lufthansa, which holds purchase options on an additional 20 aircraft.

      Boeing believes the breakthrough with Korean is also significant because it is the second customer after Lufthansa with plans to operate both the A380 and 747-8. This appears to substantiate Boeing's marketing gambit, which projects the 747-8 into a niche between the 777-300ER and the significantly larger payload A380.

      The Korean deal comes as the manufacturer reaches the 90% design point for the 747-8I, clearing the way for the start of building parts, assemblies and tools.


      Commenting on the design-point milestone in his blog, Boeing Commercial VP of sales Randy Tinseth said, "We reached this important point a week and a half ahead of the plan we laid out a year ago for the program. What that says is that we're learning some good lessons on the 747-8 Freighter. We've been able to change the way we approached the design of the Intercontinental." The 747-8F development stumbled over design issues, particularly those associated with the new wing and its integration with the relatively unchanged original fuselage, as well as with the greater than expected work scope associated with several late design changes such as the strengthened horizontal stabilizer. Tinseth notes production on the first -8I is planned to begin the middle of 2010. 787-8I artists's concept: Boeing
      what ever happens......happens

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      • #4
        Very good!! I hope more airlines decide to order the lovely 747-8i !!

        wilco737

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