Boeing's new jumbo 747-8 cargo plane has cleared US and European Union approval for entry into service.
The US aerospace giant received certification on Friday from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency for the aircraft, capping a two-year, $US2.04 billion delay for the company's biggest plane ever.
"With these certificates, the program is in the final stages of preparing to deliver the first 747-8 Freighter to launch customer Cargolux in early September," Boeing said in a statement.
Flight tests ran for 18 months as Boeing worked through design changes made to stretch the iconic hump and wings and add new engines.
When development began in 2005, first delivery was targeted for 2009's third quarter. Engineers were then diverted to the even-later 787 Dreamliner, which set back work on the jumbo jet and forced Boeing to log the additional costs.
The 747-8, which also has a passenger version, is a major upgrade of the venerable 747 jumbo jet that launched the era of mass travel some 40 years ago.
"This is such a great day for everyone on the 747 team," Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in the statement.
"Over the last several years, this team has overcome challenge after challenge," he said. The 747-8 program has encountered setbacks that have put it about two years behind the original schedule.
The FAA and ESA certified that the plane's design "is compliant with all aviation regulatory requirements and will produce a safe and reliable airplane," the Chicago-based Boeing said.
The new aircraft is an updated, longer and more fuel-efficient version of Boeing's huge 747 double-decker jet that entered service in 1970.
The jet's wingspan is 68 metres and its fuselage is 76 metres long, 5.6 metres more than the last model, the 747-400, which went out of production in 2009.
Cargolux, the Luxembourg-based cargo carrier, is to take delivery of the first aircraft in September.
The first 747-8 Intercontinental, the passenger version, will be delivered to a private customer in the fourth quarter, according to Boeing.
Trials continue on the 747-8 Intercontinental as crews test different systems than on the freighter, including climate control and airflow balancing, Todd Zarfos, the chief engineer for the 747, said.
Germany's Lufthansa will be the first airline to receive the plane in early 2012.
The 467-seat 747-8 Intercontinental competes with Airbus's 525-seat A380 superjumbo, which entered service in 2007, while the freighter has no commercial rival.
Boeing has announced orders for 114 of the freighters and 56 Intercontinentals, though 20 of those deals haven't been signed yet.
The Intercontinental's testing is benefiting from the freighter trials, as engineers resolved issues that included flutter in the wings and buffeting around the wheel wells.
The functionality of the new flight-management computer on both models had to be scaled back to avoid further delays, with a software upgrade planned later.
Boeing said last month it expects FAA certification of its all-new 787 Dreamliner by the end of August. Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways is to receive the first 787 in September, more than three years behind schedule for the launch customer.
Photos: Boeing's new jumbo jet
AFP/Bloomberg
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