Boeing Could Scrap 787-3: Report
CHICAGO (
) --
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
likely will scrap the planned short-haul 787-3 plane after
Japan Airlines
and
All Nippon Airways
switched orders to the longer range 787-8 version,
Bloomberg
reports, citing a company executive.
All Nippon, which is expected to be Boeing's first Dreamliner client, replaced its order for 28 787-3s with the longer range 787-8 model last month while Japan Air switched orders last year,
Bloomberg
notes.
"It's my guess that it won't be part of our product offering in the future," Boeing's commercial aircraft marketing head Randy Tinseth told
Bloomberg
in an interview at the Singapore Air Show Tuesday.
Abandoning the 787-3 version will enable Boeing to focus its resources on the more popular long range version of the Dreamliner and the 747-8 airplane,
Bloomberg
notes.
According to Boeing, the 787-3 has a passenger capacity of 330 and a range of 3,050 nautical miles, while the 878-8 has a capacity of 250 passengers and a range of 8,200 nautical miles.
Boeing also will reduce the production rate of the 777 twin-aisle aircraft to five a month starting in June from the current seven a month due to "challenges in the market," Tinseth said. The company also will postpone a planned increase in production for the 767 and 747-8 aircraft while production rates for the 737 will be maintained at 31 a month, he added.
Tinseth told
Bloomberg
that Boeing will deliver between 460 and 465 aircraft this year as compared with 481 aircraft delivered in 2009.
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