Possible 747-8 Intercontinental Customers

I want to ask you what du you think about possible 747-8I orders.
I thought about that and finaly, I think this:

UA: could order the -8I. I think SYD could be a possible destination for their 748I´s.
QF: think that it´s possible as a 744 replacement for routes to europe wich aren´t operated by Airbsu A380.
CX: perhaps some orders simply as a 744 replacement.

Finaly, I want to speculate a little bit.
What will be when JAL get better? If they stabilize their finazial situation, they could be a possible customer of the 748I. JAL has operated all 747 versions except the 747SP. So won´t they take the 747 as their flagship as the last 40 years?

That´s my opinion. I´m nosey what do you think.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe UAL is going to order the -8i. They just put in a huge order for the B787 and the A350, both of which will be replacing their 744s, 772s, and 767s. IIRC, they split that up from a 50-aircraft order, with options for 25 more each.

BL.

Yes, while UA could probably fill up the back of a 747-8i on routes like LAX-SYD, SFO-NRT, and SFO-PVG, it would dilute their yields in order to do so. They’re comfortable forgoing the extra ~100 or so bottom-basement tourists/VFR pax in order to fly a smaller aircraft and have lower costs and less financial risk.

I fly 160+ flights per year and really like the 747 upstairs. Unless UA orders -8s, there will not be any upstairs anywhere, and I will have to switch to LH. It is a bummer. I fly UA across the pond and LH in Europe. I really like the 2pm flight from FRA to SFO.
And I am never going to fly the 380; the bucket in the sky…

Funnily enough, you pick one of the only 2 routes to Europe that UAL uses a B744 on. All the others they use a 777. the B744s that UAL has left are all on TransPac routes.

With the 50 + options on 50, I really don’t see them ordering the B748.

BL.

Also, UA doesn’t really care if you choose to fly the LH flight instead. It’s all part of the joint venture.