Seattle/New York - US airplane manufacturer Boeing again
postponed the test flight of its new flagbearer, the 787 Dreamliner,
the financial news television channel CNBC reported Tuesday, although
Boeing said such a decision had not been made.
After an almost-two-month-long machinists' strike that just ended,
the test flight of this long-haul plane will not take place before
the end of the year, as Boeing had planned, according to the report.
A Boeing spokesman stressed, however, that there had been no such
decision.
If the company continues to delay its plans, Boeing could face
billions of dollars in fines and lost sales.
Delivery of the first Dreamliners to clients had been scheduled
for the third quarter of 2009, over a year later than originally
planned. Since then, there has been speculation as to a new deadline
for 2010.
New problems arose during the production phase, financial news
agency Bloomberg reported. A Boeing spokeswoman confirmed this,
although she did not confirm plans for further delays.
Despite the problems, the Boeing 787 is already the most
successful plane in the company's history, with some 900 orders.
Earlier Tuesday, Boeing said the global air freight business is
set to grow at an annual average of 5.8 per cent in the next two
decades, despite the uncertainty that is shrouding the global economy
at a time of crisis.
International air cargo traffic is expected to increase three-fold
by 2027.
The global freight fleet is set to rise in the next 20 years from
the current 1,950 planes to 3,890 units, Boeing said.
The trend points to bigger planes: in 2027, 35 per cent of all
cargo carriers are set to be of the Boeing 747 and 777 types,
compared to only 26 per cent nowadays. The EADS-subsidiary Airbus is
represented in this category with the models A330 and A340.
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