Boeing has new aircraft in the pipeline

Boeing, the U.S. plane maker, is about to toss a new highly efficient aircraft out of the drawing board. This mid-size economical plane scheduled to take off as late as 2008 will replace the original project dubbed Sonic Cruiser, the company informed.

The new aircraft seating from 200 to 250 passengers could have both cruise speed and range similar to the 777 and 767 models, but saving from 15 to 20 percent of fuel.

Boeing has been holding talks with other airlines in recent months with a view to pick one of the two projects, either the cost-cutting make in which fuel saving is the name of the game or the Sonic Cruiser, a much speedier kind of plane though as gas-guzzling as the members of the company’s current fleet.

The original project known as the Sonic Cruiser –unveiled in March 2001- consists of a subsonic aircraft designed to fly at a cruise speed ranging from Match 0.95 and Match 0.98 (between 1,150 and 1,186 km/h) right below the speed of sound and almost 20 percent faster than the 767.

“Taking account of the dramatic changes sustained by the (aviation) industry since 9/11, the bottom line is that our customers need a fast and fuel-saving airliner rather than a super fast plane,” said Alan Mulally, president of Boeing’s marketing division.