The first 787 Dreamliner to go into service landed in Japan last Wednesday, greeted by media, excited plane spotters and high hopes that Boeing’s gamble on a mid-sized, lightweight aircraft will pay off.
The plane – painted in the blue and white All Nippon Airways livery – touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda airport shortly after 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), three years after it was originally promised to ANA.
The delivery follows a string of technical mishaps and delays that have cost Boeing billions of dollars in lost or cancelled orders and seen it give ground to rival Airbus.
Boeing says the twin-aisle 787’s construction, partly from lightweight composite materials, means it consumes 20 per cent less fuel than comparable planes, an attractive proposition for airlines facing soaring fuel costs.
The Dreamliner has larger windows, bigger luggage storage bins and greater cabin humidity than conventional jets, a factor Boeing says will reduce passenger fatigue.
With seating for up to 330 passengers, the 787 is Boeing’s gamble that airlines will demand mid-size aircraft, rather than planes in the category of the mammoth A380, Airbus’s star.