Aircraft

Boeing poised to confirm US lessor's freighter deal

Boeing is expected to reveal that leasing company Guggenheim Aviation Partners is the latest customer for its 747-8 Freighter this week, as it prepares to begin detailed design of the new aircraft.

According to industry sources, Seattle, Washington-based Guggenheim placed an order last month for four 747-8Fs plus two options, which Boeing currently lists on its orderbook against an unidentified customer. The lessor, which is expected to announce the order this week, declines to comment on the deal.

When confirmed, the 747-8F deal will mark the latest move by Guggenheim to grow its portfolio of 747 freighters. Last year the company placed an order for six new-build 747-400ERFs - five of which are believed to have been placed with Emirates (two), KLM (two) and TNT (one). Guggenheim also has orders for seven 747-400BCF conversions, of which four are understood to have been placed with Martinair and one with Great Wall.

Meanwhile, Boeing 747-8 programme manager and vice-president Dan Mooney says that the airframer expects to complete firm configuration on the -8F later this month, which will allow it to "start getting on with detailed design and start negotiating the schedule with our suppliers, and delivery of data, drawings and parts". Major assembly is due to begin in early 2008, with first flight in January 2009. Although Boeing originally hoped to start test flights in late 2008, it says a revised production plan has been agreed. "It's really about how long it takes to get parts to the factory," says Mooney.

Three -8Fs will be assembled in late 2008 and early 2009, while the final -400Fs are still in build. The initial two -8Fs will be used for the bulk of the flight-test effort, with the third joining late in the programme in 2009 to complete certification targeted for around July-August 2009.

Mooney says that Boeing, which will still be delivering -400Fs in 2009 and will ship nine after the first 747-8F is built, is tailoring this situation "to our advantage by optimising production to the freighter. It used to be that our production folks would get concerned with freighters [coming down the line] because they were so infrequent. Now it's just the opposite, so it will allow us to better transition to the -8F."

Additional reporting by Max Kingsley-Jones