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 Monday, saying that the new airplane"s development remains generally on schedule. Sales are stronger than expected, he said, and the company is studying ways to increase the pace of production so it can deliver more planes sooner to eager airlines.

"We had some thoughts that things would slow down a bit on the sales front, but if anything, it"s becoming more frenetic," Bair said.

Boeing has 298 firm orders for the 787, from 28 customers, Bair said. Another 30 airlines are considering proposals for another 500 planes in all.

One potential customer is Emirates, the Middle Eastern airline that has been one of the most vocal in calling for Boeing to build a further-stretched version of the 787.

"That"s the conversation we"ve had with them from Day One," Bair said. Boeing initially proposed a 210-seat 787-8 and a 260-seat 787-9, but Emirates said it wanted a 300-seat version.

Airbus has proposed a 300-seat version of its 787 competitor, the A350, but Boeing has been reluctant to follow because it already has 300-seat jets - the strong-selling 777-200 and 777-200ER.

Initially, only Emirates was interested in the 787-10 version, Bair said, but interest has spread. There are now about a dozen potential customers for the larger plane, and that has caused Boeing to study the new plane "much more seriously."

Boeing is "still finalizing exactly how big it"s going to be," he said. But the company estimates it will be able to bring the 787-10 to market around 2012.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/28/100loc_a1boeing001.cfm