First Boeing 787 Dreamliner lands in Delhi

The first ultra long-haul passenger jet with a capacity to fly about 250 passengers non-stop up to 16,000 km touched down at the IGI airport in New Delhi on Wednesday.

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As the Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at the airport from Dwarka side, it was given a water-cannon salute as it taxied to the parking bay, airport sources said.

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While Air India has ordered 27 of these planes, Jet Airways has placed orders for ten of them. The aircraft would enable them to mount direct non-stop flights to North America or Australia.

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Air India, which had placed the order in 2005, expects the delivery of the first aircraft in October this year, followed by two in November and one more in December. Jet had placed its order in 2007.

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However, Boeing officials have only said the first plane would be delivered to Air India in the fourth quarter of this year. The original delivery schedule was to have started in 2008.

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Coming in from Seattle via Tokyo, the Boeing 787, which is on a test-flight to those destinations where airlines have placed orders, would fly off to Mumbai on Thursday to continue its onward journey.

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After Japanese airline All Nippon Airways, which is the launch customer and has ordered 50 of these planes, Air India would be the second customer in the world to receive the modern passenger jet in the fourth quarter of the year.

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Air India would get its first-demo trials on the aircraft, which is claimed to be the most advanced in the world. Training of its pilots to fly this plane is likely to begin next month, Boeing officials said.