Lufthansa interessiert an 747-8I,747-8F aber auch 787
Von Bloomberg:
By Susanna Ray and James Gunsalus
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's
second-largest airline, said it's interested in both passenger
and freight versions of Boeing Co.'s planned 747-8 airliner.
Lufthansa is giving Boeing proposals on how the Cologne,
Germany-based airline would want both the 747-8, a proposed
longer version of its largest airliner, and the new 787 model
configured in the event it buys the planes, Boeing Germany
President Horst Teltschik said in an interview in Berlin.
Boeing approved production of the 450-seat 747-8 in November
in a challenge to Airbus SAS's 550-seat A380 as the Chicago-based
company tries to hold onto the jumbo-jet market it created almost
four decades ago. The A380 will overtake the current 420-seat 747
model as the world's biggest commercial aircraft when it enters
service later this year.
Lufthansa will have the world's second-biggest fleet of
A380s once all 15 are delivered starting in 2008. That wouldn't
damp its interest in Boeing's giant plane, Michael Lamberty, a
Lufthansa spokesman, said in an interview today in Berlin.
``We think we have an advantage, because Lufthansa hasn't
ordered Boeing planes in eight years, so they run the risk of
becoming dependent on Airbus,'' Teltschik said.
The German airline plans a ``large order, in the
billions,'' for either the 787 or Airbus's competing A350 in
2006, Lamberty said. ``This is the big year for plane
decisions.''
Horst Teltschik, Präsident von Boeing Deutschland sagte in einem Interview, dass Lufthansa sehr interessiert sei an beiden Versionen, der Passagiervariante und der Frachtervariante der 747-8
Lufthansa hat Boeing Vorschläge gemacht, in was für einer Konfiguaration sie die 747 und die 787 haben wollen, falls sie die Maschinen kaufen.
"Wir haben einen Vorteil, da Lufthansa seit 8 Jahren keine Boeing Maschinen
mehr gekauft hat und sie das Risiko haben, abhnängig von Airbus zu werden,"sagte Teltschik.
Lufthansa plant dieses Jahr eine große Bestellung der 787 oder dem Konkurrenzmodel von Airbus dem A350.