747 advanced
Air war heats up as Boeing stretches point
Airbus’s 550-seat ‘big idea’ has not won over all the major airlines, now its US rival prepares to enter fray. Clayton Hirst reports
Boeing is preparing to mount a head-on challenge to the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, with plans for a stretched version of its 747.
The 450-seat jet, called the 747 Advanced, is still on the drawing board but the final decision on whether to put it into production will be made at a Boeing board meeting in the next few weeks.
Lew Platt, the chairman of Boeing, said: “The airlines we are talking to are pretty enthusiastic. Right now it looks like this is a programme that is gaining momentum.”
The 747 Advanced would be smaller than the 550-seat A380, but it would be Boeing’s largest passenger jet and would be marketed in direct competition to Airbus’s double-decker plane.
Documents seen by The Independent on Sunday in the UK show that Boeing is preparing to claim that the 747 Advanced would cost the typical airline 23 per cent less per trip to fly than the A380. Central to this saving is Boeing’s claim that the jet would consume 14 per cent less fuel per passenger compared to Airbus’s giant plane.
Boeing is also planning to kit out the front portion of the upper deck with “Sky Suites” with individual boudoirs for premium-paying passengers.
Over the last 35 years, Boeing has sold 1,350 of the 747s, making it the most popular commercial jet in history.
If Boeing decides to develop the 747 Advanced, it is expected to turn its attentions to British Airways and Cathay Pacific as its first potential customers, both of which have yet to back Airbus’s A380.
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