Hong Kong Airlines Orders Boeing 747-8 ?

It is a classic case of the cat jumping out of the bag, or it is a teaser like they did for the Qatar Airways 787 order. Whatever it is, Boeing’s own newairplane.com website has now confirmed what was a strong rumor during this year’s Asian Aerospace expo – Hong Kong Airlines will order the Boeing 747-8.

Hong Kong Airlines, a subsidiary of the Hainan Group, recently announced orders for Boeing 777s and 787s – however the rumored order for the 747-8s did not come out. Now, Boeing’s newairplane.com website is showing Hong Kong Airlines as a customer for the 747-8.

The site shows the airline’s model on display as a 747-8i.
Click through to see the larger images.

As mentioned before, the airline’s 3D model aircraft shows a Boeing 747-8i aircraft. This is in contrast to the operators who have ordered just the 747-8 Freighter ( eg: Emirates ) for whom only a freighter model is displayed.

This may mean that the airline has ordered only the 747-8i or that it has ordered both the passenger and the freighter model. Hong Kong Airlines is yet to firm its order for its previous Boeing MoU, and there is a good chance that the airline will place an order for the 747-8 at the same.

What do you think will happen ? This may well be classified as a leak, but after all it is Boeing themselves who leaked it.
Will Hong Kong Airlines order the 747-8 ? Comments are open.