634 orders for the 787, info on the 787-10
ILFC Lifts 787 Program; -10 Variant Delayed
Jun 20, 2007
By Adrian Schofield
A huge order from International Lease Finance Corp. yesterday gave Boeing yet another boost for its 787 program as the manufacturer admitted the strong early demand for the 787-8 and -9 variants has caused it to push back slightly the introduction date for -10.
ILFC announced an order for 50 787s and revealed itself as the previously unidentified customer for two additional 787s. These new orders raise ILFC's 787 backlog to 74 aircraft, making it the single largest customer for this family. All but one of the orders are for 787-8s, and the other is for a -9.
The ILFC aircraft will be delivered beginning in 2010 and will continue arriving through 2017. ILFC CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy said the order was "the culmination of many months of intensive negotiations" with Boeing. ILFC is "experiencing strong leasing demand from all over the world" for the 787, Udvar-Hazy said. In addition to the 787 order, ILFC ordered 10 more 737s.
With the latest ILFC deal, Boeing has 634 orders from 45 customers for the 787, just two months after Boeing passed the 500-order milestone. Program head Mike Bair said the popularity of the initial models -- the -8, -9 and -3 -- prompted Boeing to move out the expected entry-into-service date of the -10 variant to "sometime around 2013."
Bair said in March that he was confident Boeing would go ahead and build the -10, a further stretched version that some airlines, such as Emirates, had been pushing for. At the same time, Bair predicted that the -10 could be as introduced as early as the last quarter of 2012 (DAILY, March 28).
In his presentation at the Paris Air Show yesterday, Bair said Boeing is still discussing the 787 configuration with airlines. "We continue to see good interest in this airplane and are working to define what the best offering will be...We have time," Bair said. Boeing will likely have a customer ready to sign for the -10 before it officially launches the aircraft and sets an introduction date.
So far, Boeing is still looking at a 50-seat increase for the -10, compared with the -9, Bair told reporters in Paris. This would mean the -10 fuselage stretch would be roughly the same as the increase from the -8 to the -9. Boeing will try to work with the same wing but may have to make some changes.
