Boeing studies advanced version of 747 jumbo jet LE BOURGET, France, June 16 (Reuters) =97 Boeing Co said on Monday=20 technologies that could be developed for its planned 7E7 plane may also be= =20 used to build an advanced version of its classic 747 jumbo, allowing it to= =20 fly further with more passengers. "Initial results have been encouraging,"= =20 said Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing, Boeing Commercial=20 Airplanes, at the Paris Air Show. "Ten percent more capacity, non-stop=20 capability between the U.S. East Coast and Asia and five% lower seat-mile=20 costs than today's 747s are all achievable," he said. Orders for the=20 venerable jumbo, which first flew in 1969, have slowed to a trickle in=20 recent years as airlines were hit by a slump in air travel and rival Airbus= =20 SAS stole customers with its A380 superjumbo, due to enter service in=20 2006.Late last year Boeing scrapped plans to build a fast jet, the Sonic=20 Cruiser, after customers said they wanted cost efficiency more than speed.= =20 Baseler said that during the next two years Boeing would continue to look=20 at configuration alternatives on an upgraded "747 Advanced" as it talks to= =20 customers. Commercial market outlook With the A380, Airbus is betting carriers still need bigger planes to allow= =20 traffic to keep growing at the world's biggest airports such as Tokyo=20 Narita, JFK in New York and London's Heathrow, where take-off and landing=20 slots are limited. Boeing has decided not to invest in an all-new=20 superjumbo, reckoning that future air traffic growth will be based around=20 direct connections between smaller airports as airline customers demand=20 more point-to-point flights. Baseler predicted that the market for planes=20 with 400 seats and more would represent about 11% of the total market in=20 dollar terms over the next 20 years, and only four% of aeroplanes delivered. Airbus says the market for big planes will be much larger. Earlier on=20 Monday, Dubai-based Emirates placed the biggest order for wide-body planes= =20 in civil aviation history, including the purchase of 21 A380s. The airline= =20 also plans to lease 26 Boeing 777s from lessors ILFC and GECAS. Overall,=20 Boeing forecasts the market for the next two decades for commercial=20 aeroplanes and aviation services will total $5.2 trillion, with the world=20 fleet more than doubling to 34,000 by 2022. Of that, about 18,400 new=20 planes would be needed just for market growth. Traffic is expected to=20 increase by 5.1% annually in the long term, with Latin America growing the= =20 fastest of all regions. Boeing also projected that airlines would invest=20 $1.9 trillion in new planes, equating to about 24,000 deliveries over the=20 next 20 years. *************************************************** 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/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************