Jet leasing company Guggenheim Aviation Partners is buying six extended-range 747 freighters from the Boeing Co.
The announcement came Tuesday, as Boeing said it had delivered a few more airplanes this year than in 2004, and amid increasing speculation that the company is poised to announce it will go ahead with its proposed 747 Advanced model.
The deal with Guggenheim for six 747-400ERF jumbo jets is worth more than $1.2 billion at list prices, although it’s likely the buyer got a discount. Deliveries will start in late 2006 and run through mid-2008.
Guggenheim in 2004 bought five used 747s, which are being converted to cargo jets.
The deal was noted on Boeing’s Web site last week as a 747 order placed by an unnamed customer. It’s the largest order of the year for the 747 program.
As of last week, Boeing had recorded 391 firm new orders for its jets – a remarkable showing considering the company sold only 82 jets in the first six months of 2004.
On Tuesday, Boeing also announced that it had delivered 85 commercial jets during the second quarter, bringing its year-to-date total to 155. That’s a slight increase over last year’s totals. In the first half of 2004, Boeing delivered 151 planes.
Among Boeing’s Everett-based programs, deliveries of 777s have increased to 22 for the year so far, up from 19 last year, and deliveries of 767s have increased by one, to five from four.
Deliveries of 747s are down for the year to seven, from nine in the first six months of 2004.
Tuesday’s order for current-model 747s came amid reports that Boeing is nearing a decision to launch the 747 Advanced, its 21st-century upgrade of the jumbo jet. The 747 Advanced is a proposed stretch version of the current 747-400 that would use fuel-efficient engines and advanced onboard systems being developed for the 787.
Last week, the German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland reported that Boeing’s board of directors had decided in principle to launch the 747 Advanced as soon as two major customers agree to buy it. Potential launch customers include Cargolux and Lufthansa in Europe, and three unnamed Asian carriers, the newspaper said.
On Monday, Air Transport World reported on its Web site that “momentum is building” for the 747 Advanced.
The key has been getting enough orders – about 30 – to keep the 747-400 program going into 2009, when the 747 Advanced would debut, the magazine said, and Boeing executives dropped hints at last month’s Paris air show that they had reached that goal.
A Boeing spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm or deny the reports because the board’s internal discussions were intended to be private.
But last week, new Boeing chief executive Jim McNerney was upbeat when reporters asked about the prospects for the 747 Advanced.
“This is a plane that, if we have the kind of customer acceptance that we anticipate, that we will go with,” McNerney said. “The market has been talking to us for a long time about this, and Alan (Commercial Airplanes chief Alan Mulally) and his team are ready to go. We’ve just got to make sure we have the customers lined up.”
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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