Posted on 12/05/2006 2:17:57 PM PST by Paul Ross
Lufthansa plans to buy about 20 Boeing 747-8 planes worth $5 billion at list prices, a setback to Airbus, people familiar with the order said.
...
The 747-8 will be built using the more-efficient engines and wing design from Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, and the plane will cost 21 percent less to operate than Airbus's A380, according to Boeing's Web site.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
The decision lets Lufthansa upgrade and expand its long- haul fleet and brings Boeing's backlog for the 747-8 to 69 airliners with a list price of up to $19.5 billion. Boeing has been gaining on bigger rival Airbus this year. Lufthansa was among the earliest customers for Airbus's competing A380, now two years behind schedule.Lufthansa is obviously hedging their bets...perhaps even ready to drop the A-380 altogether if they find it in their interests to do so...
Good
Did Lufthansa order any A-380 freighters? I don't think they did but this would still be a rebuke to Airbus.
I was thinking the irony of an airline ordering planes from the company that made B-17s that destroyed the airline's facilities 50 years earlier.
Ancient history, I suppose.
I believe Lufthansa ordered 15 pax A380s.
You're right. Doesn't sound like they did, based on the Bloomberg article from today attached as the article notes this:
Lufthansa will have the world's second-largest A380 fleet, behind Emirates, once it receives all 15 on order, the first of which is now due to arrive in 2009.
Then there is this article as well, which indicates that the only customer so far for the freight versions of the A380 is UPS...which is also teetering, as I emphasize in bold below:
New setback for A380 jet
Seattle Times 12/05/2006
Author: Bloomberg
International Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest plane lessor, dealt another blow to Airbus' beleaguered A380 jumbo jet, deferring an order for 10 planes for three years and swapping an agreement for five freighters for passenger planes.
The 10 planes had been set for delivery from 2010 through 2012.
The ILFC decision leaves Airbus with only one customer for the A380 freighter, United Parcel Service for 10 planes.
FedEx last month dropped its agreement for 10 freighters and placed an order with Boeing for cargo planes.
The A380 is two years behind schedule and will generate operating losses of 4.8 billion euros ($6.4 billion) by 2010.
"The logical outcome of this is the loss of another 10 planes, the UPS order," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va.-based consulting company.
"I doubt they're going to stay the only freighter customer, either because Airbus will cancel or because UPS will cancel," Aboulafia said.
So what's the deal with Quantas? I know it used to be state-owned...but it appears to be behaving pretty much like a state airline still...
More good news for Boeing, more poor news for socialism.
Hey airbus, HA HA.
Not to mention that Airbus LIED about its sales figures for last year... as they were busted by the Chinese Customers themselves... here
Pinging
"private equity group Texas Pacific Group had made a buyout offer for Qantas. . .
A nifty looking trick. Texas Pac greenmailing a government.
yitbos
The recently fired Ex-CEO of Airbust had said at the begining of this year that he could guarantee that Boeing would not recieve a single order for the passenger version of the new 747 this year.
I truely hope this deal is annouced before Dec 31st so we can add this to the growing list of Airbust failures this year.
aerospace ping
Wow, interesting. Thanks, Paul
Small wonder he is the EX-CEO of Airbus. What an arrogant, petty creep he is.
Report: Lufthansa plans big 747 order (Boeing 747-8 passenger is a go!!!) bizjournals.com
Posted on 12/05/2006 1:12:23 PM CST by clippedwing
You are soo right.
The A380's were supposed to start production this year. Many airlines had purchased these planes around their business models and plans for the near future. The long haul routes the A380's were planned for are the most profitable for airlines.
With the A380 now being delayed years and it coming in several tons overweight than promised, the airlines are going to be rushing to find an alternative that can best fill in for the business plans they had. The new 747 is right there and talk about perfect timing.
I predict while orders for the 787 will continue to come in 2007, the orders for the new 747 are going to start rolling in as well. This is also a high margin of profit airplane. Billions of revenue will come from this plane.
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