Boeing Lands Order For Seven 747 Jets

The Boeing Co. announced a $1.18 billion order for seven 747-400s on Wednesday, giving it almost $7.5 billion in new business to brag about at the Farnborough air show.

The sale of the new 747s to Philippine Airlines was a big win for Boeing, taking some of the sting out of Boeing’s failure at the show to announce the launch of two new versions of the 747, now code-named the 747-500X and the 747-600X, that will fly farther with more people aboard.

Boeing has yet to line up enough customers to formally launch its new jumbo jets - although Ron Woodard, president of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, says he’s convinced the airplane will fly.

The Philippine Airlines jets will be powered by General Electric CF6-80C2 turbofan engines, valued at $150 million.