Lufthansa the first to order Boeing's 747-8

[frigidmagi]

I like Pi!

Calling The Boeing Co.'s new 747-8 a "highly modern" passenger jet, Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa became the first customer to order what will be the biggest 747 ever.

"The Boeing 747-8 is more than just a derivative of the successful Boeing 747 series," Lufthansa Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said Wednesday after the airline ordered 20 of the planes and took options to buy 20 more.

Lufthansa has been an early supporter of the Airbus A380, a plane that will seat upward of 100 more passengers than the 747-8 Intercontinental. Lufthansa has ordered 15 A380s.

But another Lufthansa executive said the decision to buy the 747-8 should not be seen as anything negative against the A380, which is two years behind schedule.

"It was a well-evaluated decision to go with the 747-8, rather than us being against something else," Nico Buchholz, senior vice president of fleet planning for Lufthansa, said at a hastily arranged news conference in Seattle with Boeing executives.

The move, though, was striking considering that the parent company of Airbus, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., is a joint Franco-German operation.

"Lufthansa is noted for its careful aircraft selection. It must have been somewhat difficult to have made the decision that they did, given Germany's interest in Airbus," said Paul Nisbet, an analyst for Rhode Island-based JSA Research. "But they did it, and I think all the major airlines will take notice. And all those that have 747 fleets will take a second look at this."

Lufthansa will not have its first A380s in service until mid- 2009 because of the production delays, Buchholz said.

The A380, which will seat about 500 passengers in Lufthansa's configuration, covers a different market segment from the 747-8, which will probably be configured with slightly more than 400 seats, Buchholz said.

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In addition to the 20 747- 8s, Lufthansa also ordered seven A340-600s from Airbus.

Lufthansa is one of the few airlines in the world that continues to order the four-engine A340 rather than Boeing's more fuel-efficient two-engine 777.

Buchholz said the A340- 600 complements Lufthansa's fleet. It seats about 300 passengers in Lufthansa's configuration. "It makes a lot of sense to have it in our fleet," he said.

Lufthansa has never ordered 777s from Boeing. That plane was not in service when Lufthansa ordered its first A340s and the airline has since stayed with the Airbus plane for long-haul operations.

The 747-8 will "fit nicely" between the A340-600 and the A380, Buchholz said.

Lufthansa will be the first airline to operate the 747-8 Intercontinental, starting in 2010 when the plane becomes available. Deliveries of the first 20 planes are scheduled into 2013.

Buchholz said the market will determine when Lufthansa might begin to take additional planes.

The 747-8 Intercontinental has an average list price of $277.5 million. But as the launch customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental, Lufthansa probably received a discount of more than 30 percent.

Lufthansa received a "very good price," said Larry Dickenson, vice president of sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The airline also has already negotiated the price on its 20 options.

The 747-8 will be 18.3 feet longer than the current 747- 400 and will seat about 467 passengers, or about 50 more than the 747-400, in a typical three-class cabin.

It will have the fuel-efficient engines developed by General Electric for the 787 Dreamliner.

The 747-8 also will have a redesigned and more efficient wing.

Lufthansa has long urged Boeing to develop a bigger version of the 747, but it was not until the new engines came along that Boeing could design an updated version of its jumbo jet that made economic sense for airlines.

"The engines were the breakthrough," Buchholz acknowledged.

We're staying loyal Lord Airbus, really! We're just buying more of the other guy's stuff!