Air India gears up to receive first Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The last hurdle in taking delivery of this plane has been cleared with the Law and Justice Ministry giving its nod to the compensation settlement agreement which Air India would sign with the US plane-maker for the almost four-year delay in its deliveries.

An Air India team, including pilots, engineers and crew, has already reached Boeing's South Carolina facility to go through the formalities as soon as they get a nod from the airline's top brass here, they said.

A definitive delivery schedule would follow soon and it could involve the first few of these long-haul planes being delivered in 7-10 day intervals, the sources suggested.

With the first aircraft coming in now, Air India plans to take delivery of all 27 of them by 2016.

The Dreamliners' delivery was to take place in 2008 and the rest by October 2011. But their delivery was delayed due to various factors, including spare supply delays and labour trouble.

The induction of the plane would enable Air India mount several new international flights, including those it plans to launch for Melbourne and Sydney this winter.

The twin-aisle aircraft can typically carry between 210 and 250 passengers on routes of 14,200 km to 15,200 km distance, while using 20 per cent less fuel than airplanes of similar size. This is because of its lighter weight as it is made out of carbon composite material, instead of aluminium.

However, the aircraft would be flown on busy domestic routes for about two months for the already-trained pilots to practice more on take-offs and landings, before it is put into service on long-haul international routes, the sources said. (More)