Orders for Boeing 7E7 May Hit 200

Aerospace giant Boeing Co. could see orders for its new 7E7 Dreamliner reaching 200 planes this year with total potential sales at 3,500 aircraft, a senior company executive said Sunday.

The mid-size, fuel-efficient 7E7 passenger jet is Boeing’s first new plane in a decade and is expected to enter service in 2008.

“We could have as many as 200 orders in 2004. We are optimistic about the opportunities this year especially for the 7E7,” Randy Tinseth, director of product and services marketing for Boeing’s commercial airplanes, told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Israel.

Tinseth said Boeing was in discussions with 20 airlines with potential orders of 500 7E7s in the coming years.

“We also see an addressable market for up to 3,500 aircraft for this airplane. It is a big market and it is an airplane that meets the needs of passengers and customers,” he said.

The 7E7 is designed to cut airlines’ fuel and operating costs. Boeing hopes the plane can help it recover ground lost to Airbus, which overtook it in commercial plane deliveries last year.