Boeing 747-8 delay frustrates carriers

The delays in getting its B747-8 freighter to market have taken a hit on Boeing's order book, with one customer tearing up its order for the new plane. US-based aircraft leasing firm Guggenheim Aviation Partners cancelled its deal for two 747-8 freighters.
According to reports, Guggen-heim had agreed to lease the planes to Korean Air but decided to scrap its order because of the delays in the delivery schedule of the 747-8.


Boeing still has 74 orders for the 747-8 from leasing firm Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (on behalf of Emirates) and six airlines.
At the beginning of this year, on the occasion of its official announcement of its tally for aircraft sales and deliveries in 2010, Boeing stated that the first 747-8 would be delivered by mid-year.


The arrival of the new cargo plane slipped further into the future at the end of September, when Boeing issued a statement announcing that the delivery schedule for the 140-tonne freighter had to be pushed back into 2011 because of technical issues discovered in the aircraft's test flights.


The decision marked yet another setback for the 747-8F programme - the third delay altogether, which pushed the schedule past the fourth quarter of last year. Originally, Boeing had planned to hand over the first 747-8F to launch customer Cargolux in the fourth quarter of 2009.


The manufacturer has not released any official information on the new delivery schedule. "We are in communication with Boeing. The delivery schedule is not public information," said a senior executive of one 747-8 customer.


Some operators are worried that the aircraft programme may see further slips as Boeing struggles to rush its 787 Dreamliner to market. The passenger plane is three years behind schedule.


Leasing firm Air Atlanta Icelandic has felt a knock-on effect from the 747-8s slow progress. European freighter airline Cargolux has extended a leasing contract for one of Air Atlanta's 747 freighters by a year to make up for the shortfall in capacity caused by the delayed arrival of the 747-8, reported Baldvin Hermannsson, vice-president of sales and marketing.


He added that Air Atlanta is having talks with Cargolux about leasing an additional aircraft.


"People are making precautionary plans because they doubt the 747-8 will be ready for the peak season," he said.


The 747-8 delays add to problems caused by issues with other aircraft types. Ram Menen, senior vice-president of cargo at Emirates Airlines, pointed to the cumulative effect from the delays in the production schedules of the B787 and the A380, which are keeping a lid on the availability of wide-body freighter capacity. As passenger airlines wait for the arrival of the latter two, they are forced to hold on longer than planned to the aircraft those new types are meant to replace, so those aircraft are not yet available for conversion into all-cargo configuration.


"These delays have slowed down the feedstock for Boeing Converted Freighters," he said.


For ACMI (aircraft,crew, maintenance, in surance) providers such as Air Atlanta, this is both a sweet and bitter situation.


"On the one hand, we look at the feedstock, on the other there is increased demand for ACMI because of the delays," remarked Hermannsson of Air Atlanta.
(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com)