The 748 will be based on a 40 year old airframe, one that Boeing should have forced 10 years ago as a logic step after the 744.

Boeing`s terribele strategies in the late 1990`s cost them the market leadership and now they have to discount like crazy, what used Airbus` big weakness, especially in the US...

QF will likely replace their 744 with A 380 aircraft, the big question now for Airbus is how to counter Boeing`s new strategy, which seems to change pretty soon.Will they produce a smaller A 380 to compete with the 748 or will they build a bigger A 380 ? Some airlines have interest in a bigger 773 and even bigger 744 , but the original airframe is simply too old.Launching it with order from CargoLux and Nippon Cargo is saying a lot, cause airlines are probably the definition of a Boeing customer...

Not long ago visiting the Boeing plant I was told that the Soniccruiser is the next best thing, than it was the small interconti plane doing point to point routes, all of a sudden Boeing seems to believe in the mass markets again