ANA to launch 787 Dreamliner commercial services next week
24 Oct 2011
More than three years behind schedule, Boeing's futuristic 787 Dreamliner model is about to commence commercial services with launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) deploying the aircraft on a scheduled Tokyo-Hong Kong service.
As per schedule, ANA will initiate the 787 service next Wednesday.
The flight will take place a month to the day after Boeing handed over the first Dreamliner to ANA at the company's mammoth assembly facility in Everett, Washington.
The innovative plane is made largely from composite materials and is claimed to be among the most energy-efficient passenger planes ever to take to the skies. Boeing claims up to 20 per cent fuel savings over other passenger jets, primarily because nearly half of its primary structure, including its fuselage and wings, are made from composite materials.
However, the aircraft travels at the same speed, Mach 0.85, as other wide-body planes.
The 787 incorporates the latest aviation technologies, including an on-board health-monitoring system that enables the Dreamliner to monitor itself and automatically send in maintenance reports to ground-based computer systems.
The Dreamliner is years behind schedule having experienced a long series of supply chain, labour, assembly line and design problems. Boeing outsourced manufacture of aircraft parts to global suppliers.
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