Slightly more Special F
 

Not as 'special' as the 747 Guppy concept in this week's Flight International proposed to move 7E7 assemblies.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine..._boeing14.html

This article in Payload Asia about SQ seems to indicate there will be a large market for converted B-747's.

http://www.payloadasia.com/Magazine/mag_frame.htm

Good article. Horses for courses I guess; as has been mentioned previously, you get 3-4 SF's for 1 new -F. That's a quality in itself, since I guess you get a D-check thrown in during the conversion process.

If you are not serving a market that requires an NCD, great. Otherwise, oops.
We got an inquiry to fly a 36 meter long mast today. We can do it, no probs. Last night we flew 20m long pipes, 19 tons. No problem.

edit/spelling

so all this assumes there will no second hand 400f on the market
.. need to see the value of one of these before the economics of a 400sf

Talking of second hand -400Fs, who got the Singapore Airlines one? Did it end up with Volga Dnepr?

BA & CX NEGOTIATIONS
 

Cargofacts bulletin from last Friday reports CX & BA in advanced negotiations ref purchase of BA B744 to convert to first P-F B747-400F.

acmi

No doubt, in an open market, a second hand F would be snapped up before the potential buyer committed to an SF conversion unless, of course, he already had surplus pax aircraft that he couldn't otherwise sell. But likelihood is that there'll be enough demand to go round - Boeing cargo forecast suggests that 497 converted large (MD11 and up) freighters needed over next 20 years and I see that IAI reckon that they'll convert some 250 units themselves leaving aside what Boeing might do.

From a press release today

Non sched



Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, one of Asia's larger carriers, said on Friday it would purchase up to 15 second-hand Boeing 747-400 aircraft in anticipation of future business growth.

"Some of the planes will be converted to [cargo] freighters and some will be converted into the Cathay passenger format," a Cathay spokeswoman said on Friday.

She did not say how much Cathay would pay for the aircraft or identify who was selling them.

The airline said that while yields have improved and business is returning to pre-SARS levels it could not yet predict which segment of the business would be stronger.

Cathay has a fleet of 83 aircraft, 11 of which are freighters. It also has three more passenger aircraft on order which are due for delivery this year and next.

"They are being opportunistic because the pricing for second hand aircraft is very attractive right now," said Philip Wickham airline analyst at ING Financial Markets.

Wickham said Cathay needs to add some aircraft as it hasn't embarked on a major fleet expansion for the past six years.

;)