Boeing 787 to touch down in India

After a long wait, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the world’s largest aircraft in terms of seating capacity, will make its solo debut in India next week.

It will touch down in Delhi on July 13, and then leave for Mumbai for a test flight meant for Air India (AI), which has ordered 27 aircraft. AI, which was to start receiving the delivery from June 2008, will now get the first Dreamliner in October. This will be followed by two more in November and one in December.

“We will start getting the deliveries of Boeing 787 Dreamliners from October and will take the deliveries of four aircraft this year. One of the aircraft will come in October, followed by two in November and one more in December,” said a senior official in the civil aviation ministry.

The aircraft will be used for non-stop flights from Indian destinations to Melbourne, New York and Toronto.

The arrival of the planes has been long delayed and was expected to begin from September this year and all the 27 aircraft ordered were to join the AI fleet by 2014.

AI was one of the earliest customers of the Dreamliners. Of the 111 aircraft it had ordered in 2005, 27 of them are Boeing 787. Though the Boeing 787 aircraft project got delayed, the company has an order book of 835 aircraft from 55 customers around the world, making it the fastest-selling new commercial jetliner even before its first test flight.

Jet Airways is the other Indian carrier which has placed orders for 10 Dreamliners.

The aircraft’s initial designation was 7E7, before it was renamed in January 2005. The first 787 was unveiled in a roll-out ceremony on July 8, 2007, also giving it a new name — 787. By March 2011, 835 Boeing 787s had been ordered by 56 customers. The launch customer for the aircraft is All Nippon Airways with the largest number of 50 787s on order.

The Dreamliners come in two versions — 787-800 and 787-900. The 787-8 is the base model of the 787 family, with a flying range of 14,200 to 15,200 km, depending on seating configuration. It seats 210 passengers in a three-class configuration. The 787-9 can fly 14,800 to 15,750 km. It can seat 250–290 passengers in a three class configuration.