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Posted on 11/20/2006 8:43:18 PM PST by Righty_McRight
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air said Tuesday it will buy 25 aircraft from Boeing Co. for around $5.5 billion, the largest aviation deal in the nation's history.
Under the agreement, Boeing will deliver 15 passenger aircraft and 10 freighters to Korean Air Co. — the world's biggest mover of air cargo — over a 10-year period beginning in 2009, the airline said in a statement.
Korean Air will purchase 10 long-haul 777-300s and five medium-range 737-900/700 passenger jets, as well as 10 freighters, five 747-8Fs and five 777-200s. It has an option on an additional eight planes: four 777-300s, two 747-8Fs and two 737-900s.
"The addition of Boeing's aircraft to our fleet will play an integral part in our development to become a leader in the world's aviation industry," Korean Air's chief executive, Cho Yang-ho, said in a statement.
Korean Air will use the planes to take a larger slice of global passenger traffic and "become one of the world's top 10 passenger carriers by 2010," the statement said.
The Seoul-based company, which operates a fleet of 118 aircraft in 33 countries, forecast annual aviation sector growth of 5 percent to 6 percent over the next two decades, spurred in part by China's economic boom.
The contract was signed in Seoul on Monday by Korean Air's Cho and Boeing's vice president of commercial sales, Larry Dickenson.
In May 2005, Korean Air ordered 10 of Boeing's B787 Dreamliner jets, still in development, with an option for another 20.
It has also placed an order for five A380s superjumbos from Boeing's rival, Airbus SAS.
Korean Air shares traded in Seoul dipped 1.8 percent to 35.500 Korean won ($37.80) following the news.
The Korean Air deal is the latest major contract for Boeing.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force awarded a lucrative contract for search and rescue combat helicopters to a team led by aerospace Boeing.
Chicago-based Boeing beat out rival Lockheed Martin Corp. and helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft for the contract to build 141 helicopters by 2019 for the Air Force's fleet of rescue aircraft, known as the Combat Search and Rescue program.
The initial contract award is for $712 million; the program may be worth as much as $13 billion.
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Sellin' like gangbusters. Gotta feel good for the Boeing guys.
Nice to see the orders for the 747-8Fs. This is going to be a bread-and-butter aircraft for Boeing.
Likely candidates right now are British Airways, Lufthansa, and perhaps Japanese carriers.
Boeing, Aeroméxico Announce 737-700 and 787 Dreamliner Orders
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 14, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Aeroméxico, Mexico's largest airline, today announced the carrier ordered two more 787-8 Dreamliners and 10 more Next-Generation 737-700s.
This Dreamliner order brings to five the number of 787s Aeroméxico plans to acquire. In June the airline announced plans to lease three 787-8s from International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2010, making it the first Latin American airline to incorporate the mostly composite airplane into its fleet. The two new 787s are scheduled for delivery in 2011 while the 10 new 737-700s are scheduled to deliver in 2010. The 787 carries a list price of $148 million to $158 million; 737-700s have list prices of $54 million to $64 million. Both orders previously were attributed to an unidentified customer on the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Orders and Deliveries Web site.
Today's announcement follows Aeroméxico orders earlier this year for six Next-Generation 737s and the recent deliveries of two 777-200ERs on lease from ILFC. The twin-aisle 787s and 777s are part of Aeroméxico's continued fleet renewal plan and will be used on routes to Europe, South America and Asia, replacing Boeing 767s coming off of leases. The 777s and 787s will provide long-range, point-to-point capability and flexibility to respond to changing capacity demands.
"Aeroméxico's order announcement today reaffirms Boeing's market view that the future of civil aviation lies in providing reliable, economic transportation to passengers wanting to fly where they want to go, when they want to go-point to point," said John Wojick, vice president-Sales, Latin America and the Caribbean, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The scalability of the Boeing airplanes, from the Next-Generation 737, to the 787 Dreamliner and up to the 777, will provide Aeroméxico the flexibility to respond to these demands."
"The speed and flight deck commonality of the 787 and the 777 will allow Aeroméxico to adjust its long-distance routes - such as between Mexico and Japan -- according to capacity demands, while the new 737s will continue to drive down costs with reduced fuel and maintenance costs," said Andres Conesa, Aeroméxico chief executive officer.
To date, Boeing has received a total of 455 orders and commitments for the 787. Aeroméxico joins a growing team of 787 customers who have recognized the 787's exceptional value and superior operating performance.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being designed with airlines, passengers, investors and the environment in mind. The technologically advanced airplane will use 20 percent less fuel per seat than today's airplanes of comparable size, will provide air carriers with significantly more cargo revenue capacity and will present passengers with innovations including a new interior environment with higher humidity, wider seats and aisles, larger windows and other conveniences.
Aeroméxico received its first 737-800 in September, making it the first Mexican Airline to operate the 737-800. Aeroméxico this year is scheduled to take delivery of nine Next-Generation 737s ordered previously, and the carrier also has ordered a total of 16 Next-Generation 737 airplanes in 2006.
All 16 of the 737s ordered this year will come with Blended Winglets - eight-foot-long wing tip extensions that reduce fuel consumption by approximately 4 percent and increase the aircraft's range. These performance-enhancing winglets improve the airplane's performance at hot, high-altitude airports like Mexico City, and help reduce engine maintenance costs by reducing engine wear. They also contribute to the airplane's excellent noise performance by lowering the engine thrust required at takeoff.
Why are all of these airlines placing so many orders when the economy is so bad? /sarc
How many times must we say "Au revoir" to the Fwenchies and the A-380? The A-380 doesn't work yet and won't work before the ragheads take over Fwance.
But Boeing hasn't got a final configuration for it yet. They recently decided to make the passenger and freighter the same length due to better than expected aerodynamic performance in wind tunnel tests. Boeing had been shooting for 8,000+ nm range for the passenger version, but wind tunnel test showed it would really have an 8,300 nm range. Several airliners told Boeing they'd rather have less range and more seats with lower CASM than more range. They also said having the same fuselage length would increase the residual value of the planes when they are later converted to freighters.
Emirates, however, is upset that Boeing won't build the shorter longer range version that was initially offered. Supposedly Boeing is considering ways to decrease enough weight on the 747-8 by substituting redesigned composite parts for existing metal parts for to give back the 8,300 nm range with the longer stretch. If Boeing can pull that off, it will drive more nails in the A380's coffin. The 8,300 nm mile range would be very useful for Emirates to fly to the west coast of the US. The decreased empty weight of the longer stretch 747-8I would drive down CASM even more for airlines that don't need extreme range while increasing the performance of the 747-8F.
Probably because the DemocRATS won the midterm elections.
Emirates demands are some times over the top and counterproductive to Boeing's longterm vision.
They want a extremely stretched re-engineered version of the 787. The seating capacity would be almost equal to the 777 which would basically kill off the 777.
Emirates would be smart to cancel all its A380 orders and should go with a mixture of the long range version of the 777 their needs at this time and the new passenger 747 for the near future.
The conclusion that I draw from this thread is that the Mexicans have a better paint job than do the Koreans.
The airlines must like the fact the 777-300ER demonstrates more range than Boeing originally projected (7,500 nautical mile range in still air versus the original 7,200 nautical mile range estimate), not to mention the fact the 777-300ER offers a substantial LD3 cargo container capacity, which makes the plane even more profitable.
There was news that there might be a few orders for the 747-8I maybe from Lufthansa at the end of December.
And a little Icing on todays cake, Virgin may cancel A380 order. How Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet it is.............
Branson Says Virgin Cannot Rule Out Canceling Airbus A380 Order
Bloomberg 11/21/2006
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the trans-Atlantic carrier controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, said it cannot rule out canceling its order for six Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo airliners.
None of the airlines want that. What they seem to want is to move the galley and food carts up in that space to allow more room for seats. That would allow putting more seats on the main passenger deck increasing CASM even more. Instead of 467 seats, the 747-8 could hold maybe 479 to 487 seats in Boeing's standard configuration.
I think the 777-300ER may end up surpassing the 777-200ER as the best selling version of the 777. It has 85% to 90% of the passenger capacity of a 747-400ER and an even longer range. To put the range into perspective, a 777-300ER, which is 180 minutes ETOPS rated, can fly from Los Angeles to Melbourne Australia nonstop, the route which was the basis for QANTAS' 747-400ER requirement.
When compared to the 747-200, it has 90% to 95% of the passenger capacity, but at much lower operating costs, with much more range. This makes it a no-brainer as a 747-200 replacement. It also is a good fit for routes where the 747-300 or 747-400 is too large, or where the 777-200ER is too small.
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