Boeing Gets Downpayments For 200 7E7 Airplanes Sunday July 18, 1:12 PM EDT LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Boeing Co. (BA) has received downpayments from airlines for 200 of its new 7E7 airplanes, which is a third of the number of jets Boeing had proposed the airlines buy. Alan Mulally, head of the Chicago company's commercial airline business, said 30 airlines had asked Boeing for proposals for the new, fuel-efficient, 250-seat jetliner. Of those airlines, 24 have made downpayments for 200 planes. Mulally said during a talk with journalists that's the strongest interest Boeing has ever seen for a new airplane model. With the global economy beginning to improve, "everybody wants to make sure they have the airplanes they need for growth in 2007 and 2008," he said. That's the time-period Mullaly said he expects the airline industry recovery to gain momentum. Though the downpayments are refundable if the airline executives change their minds, Mulally said most of the time, downpayments become firm orders. "Is as good as a firm contract to us," Mulally said. Already Japan's All Nippon Airways Co. (9202.TO), Air New Zealand (ANZ.NZ), U.K.'s First Choice Holidays PLC (FCD.LN) and Italy's Blue Panorama have announced orders for a total of 62 7E7s. Mulally wouldn't say which other airlines have made downpayments. He said he's already booked the first two to three years of production. The first 7E7s will go in to service in 2008 for All Nippon. Mulally said Boeing's price for the 7E7 is around the $120 million list price for the 767 model, which the new plane is meant to replace. But he said the new 7E7 is about $20 million to $30 million more valuable than the older 767. And though some analysts speculate Boeing has been discounting its new plane, based on the large amount of interest in the plane, Mulally emphatically said they aren't. As for the 767, Mulally said Boeing has a production backlog of two dozen planes and will wait until the spring to decide whether to keep the production line open. That decision will be based in part on whether the U.S. military orders 767 tankers; a knotty political issue that won't likely be resolved until next year. Mulally also said airlines are demanding more of Boeing's 450-seat 747 model, which is also used to haul cargo. He said as countries liberalize their bilateral flight agreements, as the U.S. and China have recently done, allowing more flights between the countries, that will increase demand for airplanes, and the 747 in particular. Mulally said Boeing will update its forecasts for this year's airplane deliveries when the manufacturer gives second-quarter data. After the first quarter, Mulally said he expects to deliver 285 planes this year and 300 next year, up from the 281 deliveries in 2003. During the first half of the year, Boeing delivered 151 airplanes. -By Elizabeth Souder, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4148; elizabeth.souder@ dowjones.com Roger EWROPS