Plane Nation

EVERETT, Wash. — The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has become the best-selling new airplane in company history. The Herald of Snohomish County reports that the
milestone was passed Thursday, when Qantas finalized a previously announced order for 45 787s. That brings total firm orders for the Dreamliner to 343 since the
launch order was placed by All Nippon Airways nearly two years ago. The Herald reports that no other plane has done as well in its first two years on the market.
The next best was the 747 jumbo jet with 137 firm orders in the two years following the launch order in April 1966. Boeing officials say production of the 787 could
begin

The Boeing Co. plans to stretch out its new Dreamliner in response to
customer demand for a 300-plus-seat version. Boeing has not formally
launched the larger version, but at this point, “it”s not a matter of if, it”s a
matter of when,” Boeing 787 program chief Mike Bair said Monday. The
decision means Boeing”s new 787-10 would compete head-to-head with
the company”s own 777 jets, but analyst Richard Aboulafia called that
“necessary and inevitable.” “It means you”re going after your own 777-
200ER market, but it beats letting the other guy take it,” said Aboulafia,
with the Teal Group in Virginia. Bair gave a progress report on 787
development

SEATTLE, March 27 - The Boeing Company has committed to build a longer version of its fuel-efficient 787 jet to meet demand from a number of airlines, a Boeing
executive said on Monday. “It”s not a matter of if, it”s a matter of when, and finalizing some details around configuration,” Michael B. Bair, vice president and
general manager for the 787 program, said. The 787-10 will carry about 300 passengers, about 50 more than the largest of three models the company had
previously said it would build. While some details have yet to be decided, such as the precise seating capacity and how far the plane will fly

FRANKFURT, Germany - Boeing is confident that its new 450-seat 747-8 will appeal to European and Asian air carriers looking to fill more seats, an executive touting the new version of the company”s famous plane said Wednesday. Jeff Peace, vice president and program manager for Boeing”s 747 program, said the new plane will be slightly longer, accommodate more passengers, be able to fly farther and _ in a nod to European airports _ be quieter because of new engine designs. &ltSCRIPTTAG&gt &lt/SCRIPTTAG&gt “The engines and the wings are the two things we have been working on,” he told reporters. Boeing hopes its new 747-8, a modification of the 747-400 plane

GEnx achieves over 80,000lb thrust as ground tests begin General Electric’s GEnx reached 80,500lb thrust (360kN) on 21 March, two days after its first run at the
company’s Peebles test site in Ohio. Testing of the new engine, which will power the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 and 747-8, includes a maturation programme that
will run for 50,000 cycles, and reach the 15,000 mark by service entry in 2008. © GEAE Ground testing began last week at GE”s Peebles plant Initial tests are
focused on the GEnx variant for the 787, with flight tests on GE’s 747-100 flying testbed targeted for the third quarter of this year. The engine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Qantas Airways is very likely to exercise its
option to buy another 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets on top of an existing
order of 65 planes, the company”s chief financial officer said. The airline,
the world”s eighth-biggest passenger airline by market value, also hopes
to decide in the coming months on new ultra long-range jets, Qantas
Chief Financial Officer Peter Gregg told Reuters in an interview on
Wednesday. In December, the Australian carrier announced it would buy
65 Boeing 787s for more than $10 billion, with the option to purchase
another 50, also worth more than $10 billion. Officials met in San
Francisco to sign the deal

ORLANDO, Fla. - Two of the world”s most powerful airplane buyers yesterday said Airbus should completely rethink the plane it has proposed to compete against
Boeing”s strong-selling new 787. Steven Udvar-Hazy, probably the most respected figure in the global business of buying and selling airplanes, predicted the
current version of Airbus” A350 would sell poorly and leave Boeing to dominate the lucrative market for midsized wide-bodies. He stunned a packed audience of
some 700 aviation professionals here by calling on Airbus to scrap its existing A350 design and spend many additional billions on a brand-new airplane with a new
fuselage and a new wing. “That”s probably an $8 billion to $10 billion decision.

Nearly Three Dozen People Injured in Evacuation Drill for Airbus” New A380 Jetliner March 26, 2006 - 13:54:22 HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Thirty-three people
were injured Sunday as they participated in a simulated emergency on Airbus” new A380 jetliner. The company said one man broke his leg and 32 other people
suffered minor injuries during the exercise in which 853 passengers and 20 crew exited the plane on slides in a darkened hangar. Some of the injured suffered
friction burns from sliding down the escape ramps, Airbus spokesman Tore Prang said.MoneySense.ca: News: Company News: Nearly Three Dozen People Injured
in Evacuation Drill for Airbus” New A380 Jetliner

Airbus has teamed up with BMW to create a tricked-out interior for its
A350 jet that it will be showing at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2006 in
Hamburg next month. Suckers for way-cool lighting, what really caught
our eye was the ceiling treatment. Take a look at how it simulates the
clouds in the sky on a moonlit night. BMW has also put together some
fine-looking seats and a generally swank interior for this A350, even in
steerage. Don’t hold your breath for this to appear on US airlines, which
will probably be coming out with a bare lightbulb and straw on the floor for
its updated aircraft interior design.BMW Shows Airbus How