GECAS to Order Two Boeing 747-8Fs and Eight More 777-300ERs

At the Paris Airshow on June 21, Boeing announced that GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) had agreed to purchase two 747-8 Freighters and eight 777-300ERs.

The Boeing 747-8 Freighter is a new model for the GECAS leasing and financing portfolio of aircraft. Boeing said at the Paris Airshow that it looks forward to finalizing the details of the agreement, at which time the order will be posted to the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website.

Boeing announced on June 21, 2011 at the Paris Airshow that GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) had agreed purchase two 747-8 Freighters and eight 777-300ERs. Pictured here are a 747-8 Freighter and 777-300ER in the GECAS house livery

“We are pleased to announce GECAS’ intent to purchase two 747-8 Freighters and eight 777-300ERs from Boeing,” says Norman Liu, president and CEO of GECAS. “The addition of these 777s complements the order we placed last March for ten 777 widebodies, and will help GECAS meet growing airline demand for long-haul passenger airplanes. The two 747-8 Freighters will broaden our cargo portfolio with a high demand freighter that has a well-established operator base.”

“GECAS has played an important role in the success of the 777, giving Boeing valuable feedback about the airplane’s performance, economics and demonstrating support for its value proposition over the years,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “With this agreement, we look forward to having GECAS play the same critical role in the 747-8 Freighter’s success.”

The 747-8 Freighter is 250 feet 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 per cent more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor.

That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets, according to Boeing. The 747-8 Freighters will be powered with GE GEnx-2B engines, the sole-source poweerplant for the 747-8F and its sister passenger aircraft the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.

The Boeing 777-300ER carries 365 passengers up to 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 kilometers).

GECAS’ 777-300ERs will be equipped with GE90-115B engines; the GE90-115B, the world’s most powerful jet engine at 115,000lb of maximum rated take-off thrust, is the sole-source powerplant for the 777-300ER. The 777 Freighter and the 777-200LR ultra-long-range passenger widebody are powered by the GE90-110B, which is identical to the GE90-115B apart from a software de-rate which limits its take-off power to 110,000lb of thrust.

At this year’s Paris Airshow, GECAS had already previously announced orders for Airbus A320neos, Embraer E-Jets and ATR 72-600s.