Boeing rushes to resolve deal snag

The US planemaker was due to deliver the first freighter version of its significantly revamped 747-8 to Luxembourg-based freight carrier Cargolux yesterday.

But in an embarrassing setback, it was forced to scratch a lavish three-day celebration, including a surprise musical act, after receiving a letter from the European carrier on Friday.

Both sides blamed “contract issues” for the delay, rather than the technical problems that pushed the programme back about two years. A performance problem could have cast greater doubt over subsequent deliveries.

“We had a party planned,” Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said. “We have some contract issues which need to be resolved and we are working on that,” he told the ISTAT aircraft finance conference in Barcelona.

Cargolux, which has ordered 13 of the 747-8F jets worth £203m each at list price, threatened to look for other aircraft if the dispute could not be resolved.

“In the event that the issues cannot be resolved in a timely manner, Cargolux will source alternative capacity to fully meet customer demand and expectations ahead of the traditional high season,” it said in a statement.

The delivery delay came a day after the head of Qatar Airways took a board seat at Cargolux following the Gulf airline’s decision to take a stake of just over a third in the carrier.