Boeing Board Authorizes 777-300

SEATTLE, June 26, 1995 -- Frank Shrontz, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, announced that the Boeing board of directors today authorized production of a stretched version of the Boeing 777 commercial jetliner, designated the 777- 300.

In making the announcement Shrontz said, "The 777-300 complements the existing range of available 777 models for the world's carriers, and offers an attractive option for progressively lower cost-per-seat within the 777 family and for replacements of early-model 747s."

The authorization follows announcements at the recent Paris Air Show of four airlines' intentions to order 31 of the long- range twinjets.

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Cathay Pacific Airways, Korean Air Lines (KAL) and Thai Airways International (THAI) -- all of which have existing orders for 777-200 models -- announced their commitments on June 14. The new version of the 777 will be capable of carrying 20 percent more passengers than the - 200 model.

Of the 31 commitments for the 777-300, 20 would be new orders and 11 are either confirmations or conversions of earlier 777 orders. ANA will have 10 new 777-300s in addition to 18 existing 777-200s. Cathay will be taking seven of 11 existing orders as the new stretched version. KAL intends to order four new 777-300s and will be converting another four of its existing eight 777-200s to 777-300s. THAI will be purchasing six new 777-300s in addition to eight 777-200s already on order.

Orders for the 777-300, including conversions or confirmations, will be valued at approximately $3.1 billion when confirmed, depending on configurations, special features and options selected.

Dale Hougardy, vice president and general manager of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group 777 Division, added, "The 777-300 will offer all the new features of passenger comfort found in the 777-200 -- including cabin spaciousness and flexibility."

Delivery of the first 777-300 is planned for the spring of 1998 to Cathay Pacific. Deliveries will follow consecutively to ANA, KAL and THAI in 1998. Engine options will be the same as those offered for the 777-200, including Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce.

The 777-300 will be stretched 10 meters (33 feet) from today's -200 model, to a total of 73.8 meters (242 feet, 4 inches). As a result, capacity is increased to 368 passengers in a typical three-class configuration or 451 passengers in a typical two-class configuration. In an all-economy layout, the 777-300 will accommodate as many as 550 passengers. In terms of range capability, the 777-300 will serve routes up to 10,500 kilometers (5,700 nautical miles). A typical route would be Tokyo to Singapore, Honolulu to Seoul or San Francisco to Tokyo.

According to Hougardy, the newest model of the 777 family essentially will have the same passenger capacity and range capability as the 747-100/-200 models, but will burn one-third less fuel and will have 40 percent lower maintenance costs. The overall result for airlines is cash operating costs one- third below early model 747s.

ANA, Cathay, KAL and THAI also are major operators of the Boeing 747, Hougardy added, reinforcing the fact that the 747- 400 will remain the aircraft of choice for very long-range routes, while the 777-300 represents the ideal solution for travel on medium-range, high-density routes.

Boeing predicts that during the next 20 years, the Asia- Pacific region's share of total air travel will grow from 14 percent to 20 percent. The volume of traffic in the region will continue to grow by about 7 percent per year compared to the world average of about 5 percent. As a result, Boeing expects that 32 percent of all commercial jet orders through the year 2014 will come from Asia-Pacific airlines.

When these orders are confirmed, announced orders for all models of the 777 will stand at 187. Since its launch in October 1990, the Boeing 777 has captured more than 75 percent of the market for aircraft in its size category and continues to be the preferred new airplane in its class.