Boeing looks forward to great things ahead, but mostly for freighters, says Jim Edgar, regional director, Cargo Marketing Boeing Commercial Airplanes in a company release.
"These airplanes will be the key revenue generators for the air cargo industry for years to come," said Mr Edgar.
"We've been on a great run with three consecutive years of record freighter orders," he said. "But that's just the beginning. This year we're anticipating a series of milestones that will bring about major improvements in fuel efficiency, environmental responsibility and operational flexibility."
Boeing freighters currently account for more than 90 per cent of the world's dedicated freighter capacity, with the 747 freighters alone accounting for more than half of that, the company said.
Orders for new Boeing production freighters have numbered 74, 81 and 83 for 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively, for atotal of 258 planes, accounting for 14 per cent of total Boeing commercial aircraft order value during that time, according to the company statement.
Development of the 747-8F will proceed as General Electric conducts testing on its GEnx and Boeing reaches 50 per cent design release during the early part of the year. Flying test-bed runs and 90 per cent design release will be accomplished midyear and production on the 747-8F will start in late 2008, leading to a busy 2009 that features the airplane's rollout, first flight, certification and first delivery to Cargolux of Luxembourg.
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