Given Asia’s affinity for big airplanes and the fact that the region is emerging from the global recession as one of the few in the world that has experienced growth in airline traffic, it should come as little surprise that some of Boeing’s brightest prospects for the 747-8 reside there. In fact, according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth, more than half of the expected demand for very large aircraft–the segment covering 747-8s and Airbus A380s–will come from the Asia-Pacific region. So when Korean Air signed a firm order for five examples of the 747-8 Intercontinental last year, one might forgive Boeing for seeming less than stunned by a deal that gave it only its second customer for the passenger carrying-version of the new jumbo jet.
Nevertheless, Tinseth couldn’t deny the significance of the order, particularly at a time when any sale of any kind of airplane makes news. “I think it absolutely will help,” said Tinseth, when asked whether the order could whet the appetites of other operators in the region. “I think it will open some eyes about what this airplane is all about.
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