Boeing unveils new 747-8 Intercontinental

14 February 2011
Last updated at 00:14 GMT

Boeing unveils new 747-8 Intercontinental

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US planemaker Boeing has unveiled the latest version of its jumbo jet.

The 747-8 Intercontinental will seat 467 passengers - 51 more than the current 747 - while burning less fuel, the firm says.

But Boeing has won just 33 orders for the passenger version of the plane so far - from Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines.

However it has also sold 74 of the cargo version of the plane, which has already flown.

The new plane was unveiled to a crowd of 10,000 Boeing employees, their families and invited guests in the same hangar where the first 747 was seen in 1968.

"Of all the airplanes that we've built, there is one that is identified more closely with Boeing than any other, and that's the 747," said James Albaugh, head of Boeing's commercial airplane unit.

Other features of the Intercontinental include new wings, a new tail, a sharper nose, state-of-the-art engines and a new cockpit.

And while it carries fewer passengers than the Airbus A380, it will be the world's longest airliner.

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