First Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Delivered To Air New Zealand

The first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was delivered today to the launch customer Air New Zealand at Everett, Washington. Some 1,000 Boeing employees representing the 787 programme joined Air New Zealand executives and guests at a celebration of this milestone event.

This is Air New Zealand’s first of 10 787-9s to be delivered. The new 787-9 will fly more passengers, cargo farther with exceptional fuel efficiency.  Air New Zealand will operate this new Dreamliner on its Auckland-Perth route in October this year and to both Tokyo and Shanghai in November this year.

The 787-9 has a fuselage that is stretched by six metres over its predecessor, the 787-8 allowing up to 40 more passengers and fly an additional 450 nautical miles (830km) with the same environmental performance of 20% less fuel used and 20% fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes.

To date 26 customers have ordered 409 787-9s, accounting for 40% of 787 orders.