Both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are reporting that we could hear, as early as tomorrow, that Lufthansa has agreed to purchase 20 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft from Boeing, with options for 20 more. These will be the passenger version of the aircraft, not the cargo version.

This is the new “stretch” version of the 747 aircraft. Interesting in that Boeing just recently modified the 8i product — adding some seats to its basic configuration. While this did reduce the maximum range of the aircraft — you have to wonder if this change wasn’t what helped to make the Lufthansa deal a “go.”

This is not, repeat, not good news for Airbus.