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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0538.PDF
ADVERTISER CONTACTS - P65 WWW.FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL.COM Webmaster Sheena Buchanan +44 (20) 8652 4432 webmaster@flightinternational.com EDITORIAL +44 (20) 8652 3842 Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK Fax +44 (20) 8652 3840 email flight.international@rbi.co.uk Editor Murdo Morrison +44 (20) 8652 4395 murdo.morrison$rbi.co.uk Editorial Assistant Andrew Costerton +44 (20) 8652 3835 antlren.costerton@rbi.co.uk News Editor Andrew Ooyle +44 (20) 8652 3096 andrein.iloyle@rbi.co.uk Commercial Aviation Editor Max Kingsley-Jones +44 (20) 8652 3825 max.kingsley.jones@rbi.co.uk Defence Editor Craig Hoyle +44 (20) 8652 3834 craig.hoyle@rbi.co.uk Operations/Safety Editor David Lear mount +44 (20) 8652 3845 david.learmount@rbi.co.uk Business Editor Alexander Campbell +44 (20) 8652 3990 alexander.campbell@rbi.co.uk Business & General Aviation Editor Kate Sarsfield +44 (20) 8652 3885 kate.sarsfieid@rbi.co.uk Senior Reporter Justin Wastnage +44 (20) 8652 3Si3justin.wastnage@rbi.co.uk Technical Reporter Rob Coppinger +44 (20) 8652 3843 rob.cofipinger@rbi.co.uk Spaceflight Correspondent Tim Furniss +44 (1237) 471960 tim@spaceport.co.uk Senior Technical Artist Giuseppe Picarella +44 (20) 8652 m54joe.picarella@rhi.co.uk Editorial Artist Tim Brown +44 (20) 8652 8043 tim.brown@rbi.co.uk EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST European Editor Christina Mackenzie +33 (1) 64 23 68 89 cbristina.mackenzie@rbi.co.uk Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi +972 (3) 9413132 Middle East Correspondent Gerald Butt AMERICAS Washington DC Office Fax +1 (703) 836 8344 Americas Editor Graham Warwick +1 (703) 836 3448 graham.warwick@rbi.co.uk East Coast Editor Stephen Trimble +1 (703) 8363084 stepben.trimble@rbi.co.uk West Coast Editor Guy Norris +1 (949) 252 8971 Fax +1 (949) 252 8972 guy.norris@rbi.co.uk Brazil Correspondent Jackson Flores Jr +55 212439-6062 Fax +55 212349-6090 fubar@uol.com.br ASIA/PACIFIC Singapore Office Fax +65 6789 7575 Regional Managing Editor Nicholas lonides +65 6780 4311 nicholas.ionides@rbi.co.uk Deputy Asia Editor Brendan Sobie +65 6780 4309 brendan.sobie@rbi.co.uk Regional Reporter Leithen Francis +65 6780 4314 leithen.francis@rbi.co.uk Australia Civil Aviation Correspondent Emma Kelly +61 (8) 9454 4987 emmajkelly@bigpond.com Associate Editor (Defence) Peter La Franchi +61419246620 Fax+61 (2) 62312795 nulka@ozemail.com.au EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Group Production Editor Graeme Osborn +44 (20) 8652 3828 Group Art Editor James Mason +44 (20) 8652 4994 Chief Sub-Editor Chris Thornton +44 (20) 8652 4997 Deputy Production Editor Jackie Thompson +44 (20) 8652 3850 Sub Editor Simon Rees +44 (20) 8652 3848 Photographer Mark Wagner +44 (20) 8944 5225 SUBSCRIPTIONS +44 (1444) 445454 rbi.subscriptionSiirbi.co.uk THE FLIGHT COLLECTION kim.heam@rbi.co.uk © and Database Rights 2004 Reed Business Information Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers / m\ ' Air Transport Intelligence (ATI), Flight International'sskter online service at www.rati.com, contains the full text of Flight i International and Airline Business since 1996. Full text of the magazines can also be found online with Lexis-Nexis, Dialogue, FT Profile, IAC and Reuters. Editor Kieran Daly +44 (20) 8652 3837 Reed Business Information COMMENT New blood After a tortuous gestation, Boeing's 7E7 looks as if it may bring rewards for manufacturer, airlines and the environment New products are the life blood of the aviation industry, but for Boeing launching a new air craft has been like trying to get blood from a stone. Now that the rock has cracked and the flow of orders has begun, the decisiveness of the 7E7 launch should silence Boeing's critics. Instead of the painful and lengthy process of assembling a quorum of launch customers representing a breadth and depth of orders sufficient to impress the board, as Airbus did with the A380, Boeing has launched the 7E7 with one large order from one major airline. All Nippon Airways (ANA) is on its way to becoming Boeing's model airline. The Japanese carrier's long-term fleet plan is to operate just three types of aircraft, all Boeings - the 737-700,7E7 and 777 - mirroring the slimmed-down product line the manufacturer is moving towards. For ANA, the 7E7 was a particularly good fit - so good that the airline never issued a formal If rocks had jugulars, Boeing may have hit a rich vein with the 7E7 tender inviting Airbus to compete with its pro posed A30X. In Japan's unique domestic market, a 20% lower fuel burn than that of a 767 is a compelling advantage, and the air craft's lower weight will take the edge off Japan's high landing fees. For Japan's industry, the 7E7 is hugely important, its involvement building on a suc cessful partnership with the US giant on the 777. For Boeing, Japanese industry participa tion has been critical in getting the programme off the ground, its 35% share of the airframe - the development costs backed by Japanese government loans - is a huge burden shared in what promises to be a $10 billion programme. Boeing insists there was no link between ANA's launch decision and Japanese industry involvement, but what is certain is that Japan's manufacturers in framing their business plans - and its government in declaring the 7E7 a national project - were influenced by the strong likelihood that ANA would buy the aircraft. If there was little surprise at the ANA order, at Boeing there was some astonishment that the 7E7 has been launched sooner than most expected. After its lengthy, painful, often embarrassing and ultimately unsuccessful efforts to interest airlines in various 747 stretch proposals and the Sonic Cruiser, Boeing may now find it has a tiger by the tail. Defending Boeing's product-development track record, former chief executive Phil Condit once described launching an aircraft as a messy process. And Boeing appeared to make more of a mess than most, staying with derivative designs while its rival introduced new models. The demise of the 757 and uncertain future of the 767 show that deriva tives can only extend a product's life so far. Launch of the 7E7 infuses new blood into Boeing. That the aircraft will succeed in rein- vigorating the middle of the market seems clear from the number of active order discus sions under way with airlines around the globe. Boeing is even expressing some con cern that the early demand for the aircraft could outstrip the initial supply. Even if this proves true, it is a good problem to have as Airbus has no quick answer to the 7E7. The manufacturer is bogged down with the development of the A380 and its deriva tives, as well as the A400M military airlifter, and has no appetite to launch another costly all-new aircraft programme in the immediate future. Residing at the heart of a streamlined prod uct line, the 7E7 cannot help but have an impact on the Next Generation 737 below it and the 777 above it. A 20% operating cost cut will be like manna to the profit-starved airlines. Boeing has acknowledged that it has begun studying a successor to the popular 737NG that takes advantage of the efficiency-improving technologies in the 7E7. But a decision to replace the 737 will not be taken soon, or lightly. The Next Generation family is selling well, par ticularly to low-cost carriers, and many airlines are still in the early days of building fleets. This contrasts starkly with the end-of-life malaise gripping the 757 and 767. But the 737NG will be replaced, eventually, and the 7E7 will be the model for its successor. So impressed are air lines by its cost-saving promises, they are already pushing Boeing to take the technology upwards to create a 7E7-based replacement for the 300-seat 777 models. If rocks had jugulars, then Boeing may have hit a rich vein with the 7E7. The environ ment is likely to be the hottest topic of the first years of this second century of flight, and an aircraft that consumes less and pollutes less is likely to be more welcome in more places. Fuel costs are sky high, and environmental charac teristics that incur penalties or deny access can only drive airline profits downwards. SEE HEADLINES P4, AIR TRANSPORT P8 www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4-10 MAY 2004 3
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