First test-flight of Boeing 747-8 likely in November 2009

The Boeing 747-8, the new variant of the legendary Boeing 747, is over 90% completed and is expected to be launched in 2010, according to the Boeing Company.

The first test-flight of the passenger version of the 747-8 aircraft is likely to be held in November 2009. Update: Boeing Dreamliner first flight by in December

The Boeing 747-8 is being developed and built alongside the Boeing 787, nicknamed the Dreamliner, at the same plant of the company in Everett, Washington, the United States.

While the 787 Dreamliner project continues to give troubles to the Boeing Company, aviation experts are of the opinion that the Boeing 747-8 – the new variant of the tried and tested Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo’ – could well be a competitor to the Airbus A380 Superjumbo, the world’s biggest passenger airliner.

According to Boeing Company, the 747-8 will have more fuel efficiency as well as lower operating costs than the Airbus A380 plane.

Dennis O’Donoghue, vice-president (test and evaluation, engineering, operations and technology) of Boeing, told reporters that the Boeing Company has gone through “an elaborate re-plan” since it intends to test-fly both the 787 and the 747-8 at the same time.

While both the two new models have the same deadline for launch, analysts in the aviation industry feel that the Boeing 747-8, by virtue of having “less ambitious goals” than the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has a better chance of taking to the skies on schedule.

At present, the Boeing 747-8 – which can seat 400-500 passengers – has 105 orders.

With the freighter version of the Boeing 747-8 set for delivery in the first quarter of 2010, the passenger version is unlikely to be ready till the fourth quarter of 2011 for customers such as Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air, according to the industry analysts.

The first flight of the freighter variant of the Boeing 747-8 was initially set for the fourth quarter of 2009, and the first delivery had been originally scheduled for the third quarter of 2010.

In a press release, the Boeing Company said that it expects the first freighter variant of 747-8 – scheduled for delivery to Cargolux Airlines International, a cargo carrier based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – to undergo gauntlet tests in October 2009.

According to the company, work on the seventh airframe and the eighth wingset of the first prototype of the Boeing 747-8 programme had started in late August 2009. The construction is expected to be completed during the third quarter, and the flying is likely in the fourth quarter.

While the progress of the prototype of the second 747-8 plane is lagging by 20 days behind the first prototype, the prototype of the third aircraft is lagging by 20 days behind the second prototype.

So, according to the Boeing Company, the first 747-8 aircraft needs to fly not later than November 2009, if all the three aircraft are to take to the skies by the end of 2009.

A section of the media quoted an official of the Boeing Company as saying that the aircraft maker will move the flight test of the 747-8 jet to Moses Lake, Washington, and later to Palmdale, California. This change of flight-test locations was necessitated because the flight-test schedule of the cargo version of the 747-8 will overlap with the flight-test programme of the 787 Dreamliner.

The company usually conducts flight tests at the Boeing Field in Seattle.