EVERETT -The Boeing Co. has set the essential design for its new 747-8 Freighter, a year after the aircraft’s launch.

While company officials enjoy the freighter’s success, they point to market timing as a factor in the dearth of orders for the 747-8 F’s passenger version, the Intercontinental. Boeing has received 44 orders for the freighter and only three private party orders for the Intercontinental. Some commercial airlines recently criticized Boeing’s decision to stretch the length of its passenger plane while decreasing its range.

“To some degree, it’s just a matter of time,” said Dan Mooney, vice president of the 747 program, in a Tuesday conference call.

Mooney maintains that timing, not the Intercontinental’s configuration, is the reason for lack of commercial orders. Although Boeing initially estimated that Intercontinental would have a launch customer by the end of the year, Mooney downplayed the prediction.

“We potentially could have an order by the end of the year,” he said.

However, Mooney conceded that he was not “confident” in the likelihood of an Intercontinental order this year.

Work on the 747-8 Freighter is still on track for the plane’s first flight in early 2009. By determining the Freighter’s configuration, Boeing and its suppliers can begin detailed design of parts, assemblies and other systems. The company settled for a 747-8 Freighter design that is 18.3 feet longer than its current 747-400 cargo.

Boeing has not determined the final design for the Intercontinental. In October, the company announced that it planned to extend the length of the passenger plane to allow a baseline of 467 seats, putting the plane closer in competition with Airbus’s A380. Boeing’s European rival recently announced delays of up to two years for delivery of its 555-seat superjumbo jet.

In stretching the Intercontinental, the plane loses about 200 nautical miles of range. And that has at least one airline customer – Dubai-based Emirates – unhappy. Mooney downplayed talk of Boeing offering both versions of the Intercontinental.

Possibly to attract orders for its new 747 passenger aircraft, Boeing will incorporate many of the interior elements from its 787 Dreamliner in the Intercontinental.

Despite this initial trend, Boeing continues to predict that the Intercontinental will rack up more orders than the freighter version.

Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.

Boeing 747-8

* Incorporates the engines and other systems being developed for the 787.

* Stretches the latest-model 747 to carry another 51 passengers.

* Has an estimated range of more than 8,000 miles.

Boeing 747-8

* Incorporates the engines and other systems being developed for the 787.

* Stretches the latest-model 747 to carry another 51 passengers.

* Has an estimated range of more than 8,000 miles.