GECAS to Order Two 747-8 Freighters and Eight 777-300ERs

GECAS, the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric, has indicated it plans to purchase two 747-8 Freighters and eight 777-300ERs.

The 747-8 Freighter is a new model for the GECAS portfolio of airplanes.

 Norman C.T. Liu, president and CEO of GECAS, said, "The addition of these 777s complements the order we placed last March for ten 777 widebodies, and will help GECAS meet growing airline demand for long-haul passenger airplanes. The two 747-8 Freighters will broaden our cargo portfolio with a high demand freighter that has a well-established operator base."

The 747-8 Freighter is the new high-capacity 747. It is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet and 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16% more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets. The 747-8 Freighters will be powered with GE's GEnx-2B engines.

The Boeing 777-300ER carries 365 passengers up to 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 km). The 777-300ERs will be equipped with GE90-115B engines.

The Paris Air Show is being held this week at Le Bourget near the French capital, Paris.

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