Aircraft

Boeing will not offer a shortened version of the 747-8I Intercontinental to airlines, the company confirms.

Boeing based the 747-8I passenger model on the 747-8F Freighter, which stretches the fuselage 5.6m (18.3ft) compared to the 747-400 series. The extra space would accommodate 17 more seats and reduce overall seat-mile costs.

Some customers, notably Emirates Airlines, have publicly lobbied Boeing to offer a shortened version with only a 3.6m stretch.

Emirates is seeking to trade the 747-8I’s fully-stretched volume for extra range to serve the 8,200nm flight from Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles.

The 747-8I is expected to fly about 8,000 nm at maximum range with a full payload.

“We’re not going to be working on any different sizes of the airplane,” a Boeing spokesman says.

Boeing announced on November 6 locking in the final configuration of the 747-8I, which now allows the company and suppliers to complete detailed designs ahead of the scheduled first delivery to Lufthansa in late-2010.