Lufthansa considering 747-8I plus ABL news

Lufthansa may become the first customer for the 747-8I passenger model as it has revealed it is evaluating the type to replace its 747-400's.

The most interesting other thing to emerge from this is that Lufthansa does not seem to consider the 747-8 in the same bracket as the A380. Their original intention was to replace part of the existing 747 fleet with A380's and the rest of it with A340-600's, however the availability of the 747-8 means they are re-evaluating this plan and they apparently see no problem with operating a mixed fleet of both types. It is possible however that they are considering the shorter bodied version ion this instance rather than the stretched version which Boeing recently announced. For their part Boeing say they are happy to offer both models simultaneously.

Boeing is also considering switching the ABL (airborne Laser) to the 747-8 because of its longer range and higher interior capacity making integrating additional capabilities and future technologies easier and allowing the carriage of more fuel for the laser. A s'shoot down' demonstration of the ABL is planned for 2008.

[edit on 2-10-2006 by waynos]

Lufthansa has said nothing regarding their decision. they have ordered new A320's for their short haul fleet and apparently their long haul should come by the end of the current year.

They have said that they are evaluating the A350, adding more A380 and possibly adding 777, 787 and 747-8I. They have publicly support the A380, but then again they wouldn't want to critic plane that they have already bought.

I believe that they are going to buy the 747-8 and maybe the 787, although it seems more plausible to buy the A350 to replace all their A330 and A340's. Then again with how things are at Airbus right now, who knows.

Lufthansa has said nothing regarding their decision.

Thats because they haven't made a decision Carch, which is what my post was all about.

They have publicly support the A380, but then again they wouldn't want to critic plane that they have already bought.

Or maybe they happen to think that its actually pretty good?

[edit on 2-10-2006 by waynos]

Interesting tidbit that may be playing into this. Air France is insisting that it be the "First" EU carrier to operate the a/c. However, they changed production slots and Luftansa may be the first unless that is changed by AIrbus. the 747-8 interest may simply be a case of a "do it and pay" type threat.

Actually Lufthansa actually can make it work. The really need it for their cargo division. The screwed up big time by choosing the MD-11F to replace their old 747 and reducing capacity.
I order to recuperate that capacity, the 747-8 is the right plane.

And sure someone would say, but the A380F has more cargo capacity. And that is true, but it cannot accommodate big cargo which if the most profitable part of their business.

So if the opt for the 747-8, retraining pilots will be minimal, they can reduce maintenance costs because they can have the same plane for cargo and passengers so I think they are really considering.

And if you add the rumours that Airbus is going to move the production of the A380 to Toulouse leaving Hamburg with the A320 line which they have already ordered, the German pride thing can become a non-issue.

Actually Atlas just selected the 747-8F over the A380F and they were considered a front runner for the F version and participated in the intial industry discussions. Now Atlas already flies a huge fleet of 747-400's but if the economics make sence they would not hesatate to jump ship to the A380 but went the other route.

I had not thought about the MD-11's. Luft. has 19 of them according to the 06 AWST source book. However FedEx had 42 of them (plus 77 of various DC-10 types) and seem happy as a clam with them and they run a very tight ship.

[edit on 10/2/06 by FredT]

Why bring the 747-8F ito it? Its the passenger model that Lufthansa is considering operating in a mixed fleet with its A380's, as an alternative to the A340-600.

About the MD-11 for Fed-Ex. Yes the plane has work for them, because they specialise in small packages, that is why they ordered the A380 and it would really work for them. However Lufthansa carries large cargo for example a ships engine from Germany. They can open the nose of the 747 and take it anywhere. You cannot do that with the A380...

Actually there are new rumours, Airbus is considering developing a bigger variant of the 'New' A350 to compete with the 777-300ER and effectively replacing the A346. Apparently as a request from Lufthansa. The thing is that if it is true would it suffer from the same issues as the A346, by enlongating too much a fuselage?
And when would it be flying? Calculations put it in 2020 at the earliest and by that time, the market would be saturated with 777's and it's replacement, Y3 would be very close to flying.

[edit on 3-10-2006 by carcharodon]

I don't think that it would suffer from 'overstretching' carch because the thing about the A350 is that its a wider fuselage than the A340, and larger overall, so it would be more in proportion than that aircraft.

Have you got your Boeing models mixed up, or maybe I have? As far as I know the replacement for the 777 is the 787-10 while the Y3 is the replacement for the 737.

edit; its ok Carch, I was wrong. I got the Y3 confused with the Y1. The 787-10 is only intended to replace the short fuselage 777 models, I also never previously knew that the 787 was the Y2 until I went and looked it up



[edit on 5-10-2006 by waynos]

Originally posted by waynos

Boeing is also considering switching the ABL (airborne Laser) to the 747-8 because of its longer range and higher interior capacity making integrating additional capabilities and future technologies easier and allowing the carriage of more fuel for the laser. A s'shoot down' demonstration of the ABL is planned for 2008.

[edit on 2-10-2006 by waynos]

A US military plane equipped with a powerful laser has moved a step closer to becoming a viable weapon. Engineers have started flowing chemical fuel through the laser to test its sequencing and control.

BBC


Looks like the project is still being developed but if the aircraft is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles as the article states why are the US still trying to push forward with their missile shield in Europe? wouldn't this be a cheaper more practical way of dealing with them and save causing the problems that have occurred with Russia ect?

It's designed for a different mission than the NMD system.

It's designed to cruise outside the borders of a country that represents a ballistic missile threat, and take out ballistic missiles as they're launched. The NMD system is intended to attack ballistic missiles midcourse, outside the atmosphere. I believe that is outside the ABL's capabilities.

I won't go into the European NMD bases further, other than noting that I am not personally a fan of the idea, because it's kind of off topic.