The 747 Advanced “has a future,” says Boeing marketing vp Randy Baseler, and Boeing is “continuing to work with airlines to define their needs.” The 747 Advanced is Boeing’s response to a group of 747 customers — almost certainly including major A380 holdouts like Cathay Pacific and British Airways — that called on Boeing last year to offer a better 747 as an alternative to the A380.
Customers and the Boeing board have set an end-of-summer deadline for the 747 Advanced, and the Boeing board wants to be confident of a 250-aircraft market. If there is no deal, the project will lapse and the end of the road for the 40-year-old Boeing design will be in sight. Airbus has dismissed competition from the 747 and expects that Boeing will eventually build a new large aircraft; GE, which would be the exclusive engine supplier, gives Boeing a 50:50 chance of a successful launch.
Boeing is not making major changes to the airframe, beyond new wingtips and some use of advanced alloys, because it does not believe that the market is large enough to justify a major investment. Baseler claims nonetheless that the new 747, fitted with General Electric GENx engines and raked wingtips, will have better seat-mile costs than the larger, all-new A380, and will burn 12% less fuel per seat-mile. Baseler says that the difference is due to better engine performance and a lighter structure: Boeing believes that the A380 weighs 20% more per seat than the 747 Advanced. “This demonstrates just how inefficient the A380 really is,” says Baseler.
The Advanced 747 will also have some interior features from the 787, such as fully dimmable, multicolor LED lighting, and Boeing has studied the use of “crown” space in the upper fuselage for beds and conference rooms.
