Boeing Receives 747-8 Passenger Version Order

Boeings 747-8 has received their first (and so far, only) order for a passenger version. The customer has not been identified, and the order was only for one plane, but it is the first passenger 747 ordered in several years for Boeing. The passenger version of the 747-8 will seat 450 in three classes, and use the new engines developed for the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has received orders for about 18 freighters, and 1 passenger, but says they're in talks with several Asian airlines for passenger versions of the plane.

The Boeing Co. has landed the first order for the passenger version of its 747-8 -- but it isn't making a big deal about it.

In fact, Boeing did not even make an announcement. It simply added the order for the one plane to information about jetliner orders and deliveries that can be found on its public Web site. And even then, the information was not easy to spot.

The customer for the plane does not want to be identified, a Boeing spokesman said Thursday when asked about the order.

A company insider who asked not to be quoted by name said only a small number of people within Boeing know who the customer is.

seattlepi.nwsource.com...

Just ONE plane? This makes me wonder if the Saudi King is replacing his personal 747 flying palace?

That's what I was wondering too. Either the Saudis or Brunei. I know the Sultan of Brunei has(d) a 747SP so maybe this will be the replacement for that.

Originally posted by waynos
Just ONE plane? This makes me wonder if the Saudi King is replacing his personal 747 flying palace?

I would have to agree. It sounds like a VIP transport buy more than anything else.

Ill place my bets on either JAL or BA being the first to persue the -8 with perhaps ANA as a dark horse

Edit: Ah the SP. I got to fly on a Pan Am SP. Pretty cool aircraft. Imagine if they made up a 787-8 SP for the VIP role

[edit on 6/12/06 by FredT]

Yes, BA's reluctance to buy the A380 is rather screamingly obvious so I reckon the 747-8 is a must buy for them.

Although I know it isn't the same thing really it does kind of look like the 'VC-7 vs 707' scenario all over again exactly half a century on. Of course this time BA's preference won't kill the 'local' offering

[edit on 12-6-2006 by waynos]

Originally posted by waynos
Yes, BA's reluctance to buy the A380 is rather screamingly obvious so I reckon the 747-8 is a must buy for them.

So im going to put you on the spot. Is it political or economic? While as we know Im hardly biased, but there have been some rumblings regarding the cost per seat mile of the A380 and if it is going to have the claimed efficencies. Or is it a political decision?

I don't know the ins and outs, naturally, but BA HAS held a long standing preference for Boeings in general (see my edit above) when it acquired the Lockheed Tristar, DC-10 and A320 in the past it was only as a result of mergers with other airlines (although they added to the fleets with new buys later). Superficially it looks like a continuation of that but I will certainly be looking out for more concrete information.

Yeah, that will be interesting to see which route BA goes here.

I know Boeing has said they're talking with "several" Asian airlines, so I'm gonna go with JAL being first, China or BA second, and ANA buying a few. IIRC ANA only has a few flights to the West Coast so they don't need a lot of long range aircraft, and they do have 777s already, so they'd probably only want a small number of 747-8s.

Would a VIP plane (or "palace") be delivered with 450 seats? That must be for a huge harem then or something... The hush-hush-not-so-many-people-know-who-the-customer-is-yet sounds a bit VIP-ish, but why would they need so many seats? "The passenger version of the 747-8 will seat 450 in three classes". Will this single one be made without so many seats maybe? A custom "passenger-version"? Or maybe not. I don't know.

Helmut, the 450 seat interior is what it would offer to airlines, a private customer can specify anything they want between 450 and 0. If this is a luxury private plane it will be fitted with the most plush and luxurious interior imaginable, the number of seats that can be fitted won't be a factor, but rather what facilities 'His Highness' can squeeze in for himself.

Isn't a plane a little too common place for these Sultans and Kings?

Wouldnt' you have a luxury cruise-liner attached to a giant dirigible if you were the multi-trillionaire dictator of an islamic feifdom??

hmmm interesting, ordering one plane, does that mean the customer has a specific requirement and needs a stop gap before the 787 is built?
And also is not keen to purchase the A380 with its possible implications in operating at certain airports.

I'd say it is for an Airline and i'd go for BA myself as a pure shot in the dark guess.