747-8. Courtesy, Boeing
 
Hainan Airlines (HU) may order Boeing 747-8s aircraft, citing repeated delivery delays of the 787.
 
However, HU confirmed to ATW it has no plans to cancel its order for 10 787s. It denied news reports that the carrier may swap out its 787 order for the 747-8s.
 
“We are indeed considering ordering [the] Boeing 747-8 now as the continuous delivery delays of [the] Boeing 787 have affected our operation. But we won’t cancel our Boeing 787 orders,” the carrier said in a written statement. 
 
According to the original schedule, the Haikou-based carrier should have taken delivery of its first Dreamliner in December and introduced five more this year (ATW Daily News, Jan. 21, 2011).
 
When asked about the delivery delay, a Boeing spokesperson told ATW, “We are working diligently to deliver these airplanes to our customers.”
 
Last October, China Eastern Airlines canceled an order for 24 787s, replacing it with an order for 45 737s, citing delivery delays and a weakening economy
 
China Southern Airlines (CZ) and Air China, the nation’s other two big carriers, still hold Dreamliner orders. CZ is expected to be the first Chinese carrier to receive the 787 but the delivery date has been postponed to July, four years after it was first promised (ATW Daily News, Dec. 6, 2011).
 
The 787 entered service Oct. 26, 2011—more than three years late due to production delays—when launch customer All Nippon Airways flight NH7871 took off from Tokyo Narita bound for Hong Kong.
 

SOURCE: atwonline.com
 
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