Korean Air has ordered two 747s from the Boeing Co., a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy quarter for the jetmaker.
Boeing officials confirmed the order as they released third-quarter delivery totals showing the company is on track to deliver 280 jets this year, which would be its lowest total since 1995.
The Korean Air order was first disclosed in June at the Paris Air Show, when the airline announced that it planned to buy two 747-400ERF extended range cargo jets, along with eight Boeing 777s and seven Airbus A380s.
The 747 cargo jets have a list price of $187.5 million to $214.5 million each, although it’s likely Korean Air received a discount.
The airline said in June that it was ordering the 747s as part of its plan to become the world’s top cargo carrier. The new jets will replace MD11 cargo jets now in the fleet, it added.
Korean Air operates 42 747s, with 15 configured as cargo carriers.
Boeing and the airline still are negotiating terms on the deal for the 777s, which would be worth up to $1.8 billion at list prices.
For the year so far, Boeing reports a net of 158 orders, down from 184 for the first nine months of 2002.
On Thursday, Boeing announced that it delivered 65 commercial jets during the third quarter and 210 jets for the first nine months of the year.
For the year, deliveries are down 29 percent. Boeing delivered 295 jets in the first nine months of 2002.
So far this year, Boeing has delivered 27 Everett-built 777s, down from 41 during the same period last year. Deliveries of 767s have dropped from 28 to 21, including the first KC-767 tanker, which was delivered to Boeing’s Wichita division, where it is being converted for military use by the Italian air force.
Deliveries of 747s fell from 19 to 14.
Among other programs, deliveries of Boeing’s best-selling 737 dropped about a quarter, from 169 to 126, while deliveries of 717s dropped from 13 to nine.
Boeing delivered only 13 planes from its slow-selling 757 line, barely half the total for the first nine months of last year. Boeing had only 15 firm orders for the Renton-built 757s on the books at the end of August, and company executives say they are considering ending the program.
Boeing executives say they expect to deliver between 275 and 290 jets in 2003. With Airbus set to deliver about 300 jets, the European consortium is likely to surpass Boeing in deliveries for the first time.
Boeing delivered 256 jets in 1995 and 271 in 1996.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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