Increased Interest in Freighters, Demise of A380, Sees Market Opportunity For Extra-Super Jumbo

04.01.24 Aero-News April 1 Special Edition (Classic)

To the surprise of... well, everyone... Boeing has taken the wraps off its newest and biggest airplane to date, the 747-1000 MAX Extra-Super Jumbo airliner -- and just as everyone was convinced we'd seen the last of its kind..

In a ceremony held April 1 at the company's Everett, WA manufacturing facility, soon -to-be outgoing Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said that with the demise of the A380, and the increased need for LARGE freighter capable transport,there was an opportunity for Boeing to do something really big. "This is, as Elon Musk might say, an RBFA ... Really Big Freaking Airplane," Cahoun noted.

Boeing has partnered with Scaled Composites to develop the aircraft, which is inspired by the Stratolaunch airplane developed by Scaled for the late Paul Allen's Stratolaunch Systems. The 747-1000 MAX will essentially be two 747-8 fuselages side-by-side with three engines on each side. Each fuselage will be capable of accommodating up to 500 passengers ... hence the 747-1000 MAX designation. "While the design is similar to the Stratolaunch airplane, it won't need to accomodate a rocket booster between the fuselages, so it doesn't have to be quite as wide," said David Loffing, vice president and Chief Engineer, Commercial Airplanes. "We know it will be wider than any other commercial airplane, so we anticipate that airlines that buy the 747-1000 MAX will work with airports to use two gates for boarding and deplaning ... one for each side of the aircraft. That will greatly reduce the turnaround time at the gate," he said.

Calhoun said that Emirates has expressed interest in becoming the launch customer for the 747-1000 MAX airplane. "We always want to have the biggest and newest simply because we can afford it," said Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO and chairman of the Emirates Group.

Boeing anticipates that the first flight of the 747-1000 MAX will take place sometime in 2030, with certification and entry into service in 2035. "When we forecast that far out, everybody expects the timeline to slip, and I'll be long since retired from the company by then," Cahoun said.

FMI: www.boeing.com