Boeing

An around-the-world adventure begins today for 130 passengers on Lauda Air flight No. 767. The flight is aptly named for the Boeing 767 jetliner that will carry the passengers to four major tourist destinations on four continents before returning Sept. 10 to Germany.

The 100 passengers and the crew of 30 leave today from Frankfurt in Lauda Air's newest Boeing 767-300ER (extended range) jetliner. Over the next 12 days the airline's president, Niki Lauda, personally will pilot the airplane the 21,460 nautical miles (39,745 km) and more than 47 flight hours it will take to complete the journey. Lauda is certified to fly 737, 767 and 777 airplanes, all which are in the Lauda fleet.

The around-the-world trip is the prize for 100 winners in a four-week competition that ran in a German newspaper. The flight will take the winners to Bangkok, Sydney, Honolulu and Los Angeles before returning to Frankfurt.

The 767-300ER was delivered to Lauda Air Aug. 9 and is the seventh 767 in Lauda's fleet. The airplane is configured to hold 36 passengers in business class and 209 in economy, and has a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system. Each of the 245 seats has its own telephone and interactive video system.

"Boeing is proud to be a sponsor of Lauda's around-the-world adventure," said John Quinlivan, Boeing 767 vice president and general manager. "We are proud of the 767 and extremely pleased that Lauda is launching its newest airplane by flying it around the world."

The airplane, the 759th 767 built by Boeing, is the first to benefit from a new technology that was designed for the Boeing 767-400ER - the newest member of the Boeing 767 family.

"When 767-400ER structures engineers were designing a stronger leading edge for the 767-400ER wing, they not only designed it stronger, but lighter than existing 767s," Quinlivan said. The next step was to incorporate the 767-400ER's leading edge for use on the Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 models.

"What makes this unique is that this technology was put in use even before the 767-400ER has made a single flight," Quinlivan said. "At Boeing, all new technology is shared among airplane programs. Many of the technologies developed for the 767-400ER will be incorporated into the Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 models."

Boeing offers four models of the 767, which also includes its 767-300 Freighter, for market flexibility.

On its return to Germany, the 767 will be used on Lauda Air's long-haul scheduled flights and for charters. Lauda offers five weekly flights from Vienna to Bangkok and four flights per week on its 777 to Sydney.

In addition to the seven 767s, Lauda operates eight Boeing-built airplanes including two 777s and six 737s. To date, more than 760 767s are operated by 81 customers around the globe. For more information see www.boeing.com/news/feature/lauda-tour/.