It has been running three years late, but on Wednesday in Hong Kong, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner arrived on schedule, touching down at the end of a maiden commercial flight that some believe will usher in a new era of fuel-efficient civil flight.

The All Nippon Airways Flight NH7871 left Tokyo shortly after noon, arriving four hours and eight minutes later to be greeted by traditional dance and music.

Boeing officials say the aircraft, which is made of lightweight materials, is 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than conventional airliners and 30 per cent cheaper to maintain, and features design improvements for more comfortable medium- and long-haul flights.

Design problems and production delays have left $16 billion worth of hardware on Boeing assembly lines.

The firm currently has orders for 821 Dreamliners, a 10th of them from Japan, which designed and built 35 per cent of the aircraft's structure.

Let us have a look at the Dreamliner.

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The plane prepares to take off. It has a carbon-composite design its maker says is lighter, more economical to fly and more comfortable than its metal rivals currently plying the airways.

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The passenger cabin of the carrier. The special charter flight by the twin-engined jet from Tokyo to Hong Kong comes after years of delays as Boeing engineers had to deal with glitches and parts delays, leaving some $16 billion of inventory at Boeing's plants.

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A view of the cockpit. Hundreds of aviation fans welcomed the carbon-composite plane that its American maker is fielding to keep rival Airbus out of its best market.

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Dreamliner lands at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

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A view of the bar counter of the carrier.

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A man walks under the plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

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All Nippon Airways President and Chief Executive Shinichiro Ito, left, toasts with Boeing Company Vice-President Scott Fancher before the Dreamliner's flight at Narita airport in Narita, east of Tokyo.

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The plane taxis on the runway after landing at Hong Kong Airport.

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The plane approaches to land at Haneda airport in Tokyo.