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The U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing has unveiled its latest airliner model with great fanfare, and great focus on technological advances in its construction. At a ceremony at a company hangar in the state of Washington Sunday afternoon, some 15,000 guests saw Boeing's 787 Dreamliner for the first time. Boeing says the new airliner will use 20 percent less fuel than other similarly sized planes because of the carbon composite material used in its airframe. An airplane made of composites weighs less than a metal plane, and requires less fuel to do the same job. The 787 has not yet left...

NEW DELHI: Air India(A-I) has taken strong exception to the "misinformation" campaign launched by Airbus Industry after the European consortium lost the over $6.5 billion contract to its arch rival Boeing Aircraft Company for supply of 50 medium and long range capacity jets to the airline. "A-I takes strong exception to the misinformation campaign" by Airbus on the bidding process followed by the airline Board of Directors and termed it as "mischievous and misleading" the public, Air India is understood to have stated in a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry. The airline board had decided to go in for...

SEATTLE, April 5 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has made sales proposals to airlines for its 787 Dreamliner jet which could add up to 600 new sales for its first all-new airplane in over a decade, the executive overseeing it said on Tuesday. "We're still juggling 40 proposals not counting the ones we've announced, and over 600 airplanes, which is phenomenal," said Mike Bair, vice president at Boeing's commercial airplanes unit and general manager of the 787 program. "If the yield on that is 50 percent, it's still huge," he said. The 600 planes in which airlines...

In keeping with its 7-Series tradition, Boeing has given its mid-sized 7E7 jetliner the official model designation number of 787, and the name Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Able to seat 200 to 300 passengers, the twin-aisle aircraft reportedly will use 20 percent less fuel compared to a plane of comparable size. Boeing also announced that it has completed the 787's first full-scale, one-piece fuselage section, demonstrating concepts for production scheduled to begin next year. The first major 787 structure to reach this stage of development, the 7m/22-ft long, 6m/19-ft wide fuselage barrel section was completed in December 2004. The section was...

SEATTLE, Feb. 22, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today said development of the 747 Large Cargo Freighter is proceeding according to plan and the modified freighters will be ready to support final assembly of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2007. "We have a top-notch team of engineers working to design what will be one of the most unique airplanes flying," said 787 Vice President of Manufacturing and Quality Scott Strode. "This kind of modification is an engineer's dream. It's an extremely challenging project, and it's essential to the success of the Dreamliner." Boeing announced last week the critical "swing...

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Feb. 18, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has selected Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT) to convert three 747-400 passenger jets into cargo freighters that will be used to transport major assemblies for the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. EGAT is a joint venture of EVA Air and General Electric. It's part of Taiwan 's Evergreen Group. Boeing 787 Vice President of Manufacturing and Quality Scott Strode joined EGAT Chairman David Wang and EVA President K.W. Chang in Taipei today to formally sign the modification services agreement. Financial terms aren't being disclosed. "The Large Cargo Freighter is a critical...

After months of negotiating and diplomatic delays, six Chinese airlines will be allowed to order a combined total of about 60 of Boeing's new 7E7 Dreamliner airplanes. The order would be worth about $7.2 billion at list prices, and would be a strong boost to Boeing's efforts to secure a foothold for its new super-efficient 250-seat jetliner in the global marketplace.

SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. doesn't often let the public into its secured development center here. But on Tuesday, after months of bad news about defense scandals, trade wars and lost sales, the Chicago-based company finally had something to crow about. While the television cameras rolled, Boeing engineers unveiled a seamless, rivetless, one-piece barrel of carbon-fiber composite that has the unmistakable profile of a jumbo jet's back end. At 22 feet long and 19 feet in diameter, it is a crucial first step in a multibillion-dollar march to prove that the company can build its much anticipated 7E7 Dreamliner, the first...

SEATTLE, United States (AFP) - Vietnam Airlines has agreed to buy four wide-bodied Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner jets with a sticker price of around 500 million dollars. The jets are scheduled for delivery to the Vietnamese national carrier in 2010 and will be used to expand its international traffic. "The 7E7-8 will allow Vietnam Airlines to further develop our route structure to include city pairs that would otherwise not be financially viable," said the airline's Nguyen Xuan Hien in a statement issued here. The deal between Boeing and Vietnam Airlines is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2005....

Continental Airlines Inc. on Wednesday said it agreed to become the first major U.S. airline to order Boeing Co.'s 7E7 aircraft, placing an initial order for 10 planes with the first to be delivered in 2009. The world's sixth-largest airline said it also agreed to lease eight Boeing 757-300 aircraft to be delivered beginning in July 2005, and to accelerate the delivery of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft into 2006. The planes had been previously scheduled for delivery in 2008.

When he assumes office Jan. 12, Attorney General–elect Rob McKenna says, he'll take a new look at the $3.2 billion state tax "incentive" given to Boeing in return for its agreement last year to locate the 7E7 assembly plant in Snohomish County. "There are some outstanding legal issues to review," said McKenna, a King County Council member elected to the state post this month. He wouldn't discuss the issues, but said he opposes any similar tax giveaways. "I don't think we can ever replicate the Boeing package," McKenna, a Republican, said in an interview last Friday, Nov. 19, during the...

PARIS/TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Airbus is eager to launch an aircraft to rival Boeing Co.'s efficient new 7E7 passenger jet and hopes to make an announcement by the end of the year, the European planemaker said on Tuesday. Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard has said the planemaker could spend as much as 4 billion euros to build a challenger to the 7E7, which will seat as many as 300 people in three versions and offer airlines lower operating costs.

OLYMPIA—Washington's Boeing 7E7 Project Office and the Attorney General's office recently added to their series of misleading statements to the court in the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's (EFF) lawsuit for public records. In February of this year, the state claimed under penalty of perjury that it did not have specific documents requested by EFF—documents central to understanding the legal authority for state officials to enter into the agreement with the Boeing Corporation. The attorney general's office argued in court that the state could not have violated the public records law if, in fact, the documents in question were not even in...

OLYMPIA – Last week the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) received public records from the state's 7E7 Project Office that directly contradict previous legal declarations from that office — declarations filed under penalty of perjury related to EFF's public records lawsuit. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy ruled on March 26, 2004, that EFF did not have the right to unfettered access to public documents related to the Boeing/State of Washington 7E7 agreement. On August 23, EFF filed its appeal brief and motion to supplement the court record. Responding to EFF's December 19th request for the Boeing/State of Washington agreement,...

Singapore Airlines Ltd. is expected to announce an order for 18 long-range Boeing 777 jetliners, perhaps as early as this week, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The deal is for 777-300ERS, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It could be worth between $3.7 billion and $4.1 billion at list prices, although airlines typically negotiate steep discounts. Boeing spokesman Bob Saling declined to comment. James Boyd, a spokesman for Singapore Airlines in Los Angeles, said the company had completed its evaluation of Boeing's sale proposal as well as one from European rival Airbus. He said...

Cutting costs has become an obsession for major carriers worldwide. Nowhere is that more true than in the U.S., where big airlines closed out July with a second-quarter loss of $2.1 billion, as they continued to battle rising costs. While foreign carriers tend to be in better shape, the industry knows the key to survival lies in being lean and mean. If only carriers could get their hands on a Boeing 7E7 now. Experts say the plane, which will go into service in 2008, could redraw airline economics. Much has been said about the 7E7's fuel-sipping nature. But Boeing Co....

SEATTLE, July 7, 2004 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today confirmed announcements that Blue Panorama of Italy and First Choice Airways of the United Kingdom have selected the 7E7 Dreamliner to replace and expand their existing airplane fleets. These two carriers are the first in Europe to choose the 7E7, the world's newest, most advanced commercial jetliner. In separate press conferences in Rome and London , the carriers announced plans to acquire a total of 10 7E7s, valued at $1.2 billion at list prices. Blue Panorama will add four 7E7s to its fleet at a value of $500 million...

Paris - The European aircraft maker Airbus on Friday signed a $2 billion contract with Chinese airline China Eastern for long-haul planes but is still waiting to clinch an order for its super-jumbo A380 plane. China Eastern chairman Ye Yigan and Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard inked the deal for the sale of 20 A330-300 long-range planes for about two billion dollars. The order was accompanied by a letter of intent to purchase 10 additional planes of the same type by another Chinese company that has yet to be named. Forgeard said the sale would be worth slightly more...

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Air New Zealand Ltd., the nation's largest airline, plans to add 10 Boeing Co. aircraft to upgrade its long-haul fleet. The carrier will buy four Boeing 777-200 ER planes and lease a further four. The cost of buying and maintaining the eight planes will exceed NZ$1 billion ($627 million), the company said in a statement from Auckland. It will also buy two 7E7 aircraft at a total cost of NZ$350 million. The airline has a right to buy a further 42 long-haul aircraft. Last week, Air New Zealand's debt was rated Ba2 by Moody's Investors Service,...

<p>Boeing to Proceed With 7E7 After $6 Billion ANA Order (Update4) April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the world's second biggest commercial aircraft maker, won a $6 billion order for 50 7E7 planes from All Nippon Airways Co., allowing it to commit to building its first new model in more than a decade.</p>