Boeing resumes developing long-haul jet EVERETT, Wash. (Reuters) =97 Boeing (BA), the world's largest commercial=20 aircraft maker, said Wednesday it will resume development of a long-haul=20 jetliner it mothballed after the Sept. 11 attacks as air travel slumped.=20 The 300-passenger jet =97 the 777-200LR, which stands for "long range" =97= =20 could fly 10,500 miles, allowing non-stop trips from New York to Singapore;= =20 Los Angeles to Mumbai, India; and Chicago to Sydney, Boeing said. Pakistan= =20 International Airlines and EVA Airways of Taiwan have ordered five=20 777-200LR planes, Boeing said. Production should begin in October 2004 and= =20 the Pakistani airline is slated to receive its first deliveries in January= =20 2006, it said. Citing slow sales, Boeing shelved development of the plane=20 in October 2001 after engineers completed about 10% of the design.=20 Deliveries of another Boeing long-range model, the 777-300ER, are slated to= =20 begin in April 2004, Boeing said. "We believe there is a strong market" for= =20 the planes, said Lars Andersen, program manager for the long-range Boeing=20 777s, in a statement. "As the world economy improves and travel growth=20 returns, we're convinced that we'll see additional sales." Higher aircraft= =20 sales would help Boeing, which is based in Chicago but runs its jet=20 business from Seattle, weather a prolonged slump in business and consumer=20 air travel. Boeing expects to deliver 280 jetliners this year, down 27%=20 from 371 last year, and the fewest since 1996. It said Tuesday that its=20 commercial jet unit delivered 24 aircraft in February, down 33% from 36=20 aircraft one year ago. Rival Airbus SAS expects to deliver about 300=20 aircraft in 2003, which could make it the industry leader for the first= time. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************