Heard something?

Or just guessing?

Drop it in here!

Do you think Emirates will order another batch of 777-200LRs? All ten of EK's current 77Ls have been allocated routes, and I have heard they want to increase frequencies on some of their ultra long-haul routes.

Thought I would post this one sentence concerning Cathay Pacific.



http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=15513

Maybe. But would they do so through a new order or instead convert some the 29 777-300ERs and 8 777Fs they have on order to 777-200LRs? They would almost certainly get the LRs quicker via a conversion...

Not sure, however I would not be surprised if they do, or perhaps complement those increases with A380's, as they have outlined for places like LAX and SFO.

There was talk internally of them deploying the A380 to GRU as well, although not sure such a big jet is warranted on that sector.

..what about the 12 B777 UFO's now on Boeing's website?

Lots of speculation abound but anything concrete?

CX in all liklihood. I know lots of folks think its Emirates, but Tim Clark isn't shy about orders.

Both EK and QR have done unidentified orders in the past only to do the splash at the next air show!

I think it is either CX or SQ though, EK has so much metal on order it is hard to imagine them adding to it.

Remember this is EK we are talking about, they think in a different dimension than most normal airlines. Matter of fact, just read an interview with a guy from EK in the recent "AeroInternational" magazine here in Germany stating that EK wants to serve every destination (with very few exceptions, due to limited access *cough*YYZ*cough*) at least twice daily, including those destinations that they haven't even launched yet .

On a slightly different track, VirginBlue/V-Australia has just deferred the delivery of two B777's to later slots in the current year (approximately 5-6 months). The rationale is to effect a 'better' delivery date, although the 'buzz' around town is that it is to give new CEO-elect John Borghetti (remember him as a Senior QF Executive General Manager ?) time to examine V-Australia's current frame allocation and international route strategy.

Look like it is SV (Saudi Arabian Airlines). They printed their first "Take-Off" Program airline information update which shows they will be receiving 12 777-300ERs: 2 each in 2011 and 2014 and four each in 2012 and 2013.

SV? That means that the 748 is still "alive" at CX.

.. but probably on 'life-support' ?

I doubt Boeing is going to cry a river if CX replaces all of their 747-400s with 777-300ERs instead of 747-8s. The margins on the 777 should be better due to all the overhead being recovered.

...darn, and I was hoping it was either CX or BA..oh well...

Someone just added 12 777-200LRs on order to the Delta page on Wikipedia, but they did not provide any attribution. DL had their Earnings Call yesterday and made no mention of a 77L order, but they might not have been required to.

DL's CEO did mention that they "technically" still have the 787 on order, so I suppose it's not beyond the realm of possibility that DL and Boeing have agreed to swap their 787 order for a dozen 77Ls and have worked out the paperwork for the 77L order (hence Boeing booking it as a UFO pending DL's formal announcement) and are still working on clearing the paperwork to cancel the 787s.

12 777Ls for DL? Where would they use them?

Nah, I think this is SV.

The wiki page for delta's fleet shows that they have 27 options on 77Ls. There would be no reason for them to have to cancel the 787 orders to get 77L's or to convert these options to other 777 variants.

Well I can think of one reason - transferring deposits and any progress payments made on the 787s to the 777s. A number of DL employees claim the company is trying to conserve cash at the moment, which does add to the unlikeliness of DL being behind this order, but if they are behind it and they are trying to conserve cash, moving those funds over would help reduce the outlay for the 77Ls.