Two From the Desert Enter Service

Yesterday line 1478 (RC509) LX-VCI delivered to Cargolux after a two month stay in the desert. (UPDATE: named "City of Troisvierges")

Today line 1463 (RC604) VQ-BRH delivered to AirBridgeCargo after a six month stay in the desert.

So there's hope for these stored frames yet. They won't all end up like line 1416.

"What's that green stuff?" says VQ-BRH after 6 months staring at sand. Thanks to mzunguwamap.

New Engines Being Installed?

Judging from Matt Cawby's latest flight line shot, it looks like line 1483 (RC561) B-LJK for Cathay Pacific is at the fuel dock and possibly has engines. Or is that an optical illusion? Also, the unknown frame in stall 118 has two balance weights removed, which could mean she's getting engines too.

Annoyances

All of these unpainted unlabeled engine-less 747-8s lying around KPAE make it really annoying trying to catalog in the chart. I'm doing my best to guess which is which.

Goin back to KPAE

Line 1469 (RC524) JA14KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines is returning to KPAE from a six month stint in the slammer at Pinal Airpark. Last I've heard, NCA is still planning on taking three more frames before the end of the year, and this move supports that plan. Inventory in storage at Pinal is now down to two frames, one for NCA, one for ABC. Three frames have now been returned from storage for pending deliveries, although two of them have been languishing around KPAE for a month now.

UPDATE: Line 1421 (RC521) JA11KZ for Nippon Cargo Airlines is painted and is also returning to KPAE this evening.

Here's a sequence of line 1469's return:

And here's 1421's landing:

Bad news, Good news...

Lufthansa's order has been made official. 34 777-9Xs and 25 A350-900s. This order is mostly bad news for the prospects of 747-8I sales. I had thought this order was going to be 25/25 of each widebody twin, solely targeting the replacement of Lufthansa's 50 A340s (300 and 600 models), and leaving the late model 747-400s for a future order. It turns out that this order is targeting the replacement of their late model 747-400s as well.

Bad news:

• Newer model 747-400s will be replaced with 777-9Xs
• Unlikely Lufthansa will order any significant amount of additional 747-8Is in the future

Good news:

• Newer 747-400s will fly their full life span (22-24 years) before being retired by 2025
• A340-600s (fellow four holers) will fly a good life span (16-18 years) before being retired by 2025
• Lufthansa will take delivery of all 19 747-8Is, and plans for them to be a key part of their long haul fleet in 2025 (implying they'll remain in service well past that date)

In other good news:

• Line 1435 (RC021) continues her flight test program, now 300+ hours in, testing new engines, tail tank, and other things
• Line 1437 (RC573) is back in the air. Could it be nearing a sale?
• Line 1463 (RC604) VQ-BRH for AirBridgeCargo is back at the delivery center, hopefully to fly into service soon

And lastly, because I was bored and it's a 2+ year old frame flying for the first time, here's 787 line 36 (ZA381) B-2726 for China Southern taking to the skies. And seeing as she's meant for China Southern, this means that she'll probably deliver sometime in the next 12-24 months.