National
Airline of France Will Operate 23 777-200ERs by Spring 2002
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today confirmed that Air France has signed
a definitive agreement to exercise options for four more Boeing
777-200ERs (Extended Range) airplanes. This order means that Air
France's 777-200ER fleet will total 23 airplanes by spring of 2002,
including lease commitments.
The 777s are existing orders that have been previously accounted for in
cumulative order totals published by Boeing. Until today, the customer
for the order was unidentified.
"The 777 continues to meet our expectations in terms of global
performance and passenger appeal and we are pleased to add these
aircraft to our fleet," said Pierre Vellay, corporate vice president-New
Aircraft and Fleet Planning, Air France.
The 777 family offers a cruise mach speed of .84 and is the most
technologically advanced airplane in the industry. The Boeing 777 is
unmatched in economics and range, providing its operators unlimited
possibilities.
"The 777 has set a new level of comfort and spaciousness for air
travel," said Seddik Belyamani, executive vice president - Sales and
Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group. "I am delighted by their
decision and we will continue to work closely with the airline to meet
their future fleet requirements."
The airline plans to use its new airplanes to increase growth and
frequency on existing routes throughout the world.
These airplanes will have the new General Electric GE90-94B engine,
which currently is being flight-tested on an Air France 777-200ER
airplane made available to Boeing for this purpose. Rated at 94,000
pounds of thrust, the GE90-94B builds on the proven success of the GE90
family, adding key performance-enhancing technologies such as the
three-dimensional aerodynamic (3-D Aero), high-pressure compressor - a
key component of the performance improvement to be incorporated into the
GE90-115B engine currently under development. The application of 3-D
Aero -- a computer design and analysis program - on the -115B engine
design delivers improved fuel burn.
The first 777 airplane entered service in June 1995 and since then has
become the best-selling airplane in its class. The longer-range Boeing
-200 and -300 derivative twinjets were launched in a joint Boeing and
General Electric press conference earlier this year.
Passengers have rated the Boeing 777 as the most comfortable airplane in
its class. With 480 777s ordered by 31 customers, the 777 has captured
66 percent of this market segment. |