After a four-year delay, Air India's first of the 27long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner would land here on Saturday with the airlinetaking its delivery at the US aircraft-maker's Charleston plant Thursday.
The new 256-seater aircraft would touch down at Delhi's IGIAirport on September 8, an Air India spokesperson said, adding that the planewas received by Capt Soman and Capt Amitabh Singh at the South Carolina Boeingfactory on behalf of the national carrier.
The airline, which had placed orders for 27 of theseaircraft six years ago, would get the delivery of two more Dreamliners withinthe next few weeks. With these new planes, Air India plans to expand itsinternational operations and launch new services, including those to Australia.
Air India took delivery of the plane after the Union LawMinistry cleared the Delay Compensation Agreement, which would be signedbetween Air India and Boeing. The agreement is to clinch the compensation dealto be given by the US aircraft major for almost four-year delay in deliveries.
The first batch was to have been delivered in September 2008but design and production issues at Boeing delayed deliveries. The agreementwas cleared by the Union Cabinet in August and was being fine-tuned by the LawMinistry.
"The 787 will allow Air India to open new routes in adynamic marketplace and provide the best in-flight experience for ourpassengers," AI CMD Rohit Nandan said, adding "today is a great dayfor Air India as the most technologically advanced and fuel efficient airplanein the world joins our fleet".
Boeing's Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific and IndiaSales) Dinesh Keskar said in a statement, "I am sure Air India and theircustomers will be thrilled to experience the revolutionary features on the 787,an airplane that will be the key focus of the airline's turnaround plan."
The airline would get eight of these twin-engine aircraft byMarch next year.
The B-787 has the range and capability to allow Air India tofly on many routes, including the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Australia. Themid-size plane has four variants, with the longest-range one capable of flyingover 15,000 kms non-stop.
For the next few weeks, the aircraft would be operated oncertain short and medium-haul sectors, including Delhi- Bangalore, to enable thepilots and crew get accustomed to its landings and take-offs. It would bedeployed on long-haul international routes in November or December.
The plane is made of carbon composite material, which makesit light-weight and therefore is considered less fuel guzzler. Boeing claimsthe plane consumes 20 per cent less fuel compared with the similar-sized B-767sand better fuel efficiency implies lower flying costs.
The aircraft for Air India has been configured toaccommodate 256 seats, 18 full-flat Business Class seats and 238 Economy Classseats.
It features a host of latest sophisticated technologies,which includes mood-lighting inside the entire cabin.
The In-Flight Entertainment system, supplied by US firmThales, includes large LCD display screens, designed to provide passengers withaudio, video, games, entertainment and communications features better than thelatest in-home capabilities.
Air India was the second world carrier to have placed ordersfor this aircraft but became the fifth airline to get this plane as delay inclearing of the compensation agreement further pushed the plane's deliveries toAir India.
Those airlines which have inducted and are already operatingthis aircraft include Japan's All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and EthiopianAirways.
According to Boeing, as many as 47 airlines across the worldhave ordered nearly 900 Dreamliners.