US aircraft giant Boeing said it had started training pilots to fly the 787 Dreamliners promised to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in a long-delayed 55-plane agreement.

“Ten pilots from ANA began the training programme with classroom instructions in Tokyo earlier this month,” Boeing said in a statement.

“Training on simulation devices began April 23 at the Boeing Flight Services training campus in (the US city of) Seattle, Washington. First delivery of the 787 is scheduled for the third quarter of this year,” it said.

The pilots should be ready to fly the new planes after up to 20 days of training, depending on their prior experience, with Boeing 777 pilots qualifying in as little as five days, the company said.

In January ANA, the inaugural customer for the troubled jetliner, said it would seek assurances from Boeing that it could meet the third-quarter delivery date after the US aviation giant delayed it again.

Boeing had originally promised to roll out the product in 2008, but a string of technical mishaps and delays have slowed the testing program for the jets, heralded as a new generation of highly fuel-efficient mid-sized aircraft.

Boeing 787 configurations

The Boeing 787 developed as the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner, became to be known as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It is a super-efficient airplane with new passenger-pleasing features. It is claimed it will bring the economics of large jet transports to the middle of the market, using 20 per cent less fuel than any other airplane of its size. Customers will enjoy forty- to sixty-per cent more cargo revenue capacity.

Boeing 787-300 Dreamliner, optimized for shorter flights, will carry 290 - 330 passengers in two classes up to 6.500 kilometres.

Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner will carry 210 - 250 passengers in three classes, with a range of up to 15.700 kilometres. Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner, a longer version of the 787-800, will carry 250 - 290 passengers in three classes up to 15,400 kilometers. (Source: Boeing)