ANA Targets 787 Delivery In Feb 2010
The launch customer for the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, All Nippon Airways (ANA) confirmed that it would start taking deliveries of the revolutionary airplane from February 2010 - around 21 months later than planned. ANA plans to commence operations with the type in March 2010.
ANA also envisages that around 20 Boeing 787-8’s will be in service/operation by the end of the fiscal year of 2011, which ends March 2011. ANA plans to deploy its 787’s on domestic and regional routes to build up experience and ETOPS background before commencing longer routes.
“Initially, it will be flown on domestic flights for ETOPS rating purposes and to expedite pilot training,” says ANA.
The initial route had the 787 been delivered in May 2008 would have seen the airplane deployed on routes to Beijing.
Below are images taken last week of ANA’s second Boeing 787, currently in final assembly, complete with engines, now that it too progresses toward completion after the removal of various non-conforming fasteners.
Last week, Boeing confirmed that it had resumed assembly on the 787 line, with the fifth 787 due to be one of two airplanes to be powered by General Electric’s GEnx engine. The remaining four to be used in the flight test programme consist of Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines.
Boeing remains upbeat that it can get all six test airplanes flyings within around four months of first flight, which is penned to take place before the end of the second quarter.
“Until Boeing gets the 787 into the air and flight-test results into the lab, there should be few if any new surprises. Their timetable therefore at the moment seems realistic — a question of months, not years,” says Arran Aerospace’s MD, Doug McVitie.
FleetBuzz Editorial.com also undertook extensive discussions with the 787 team in Everett, WA - details of these discussions will be posted in the coming days. Please check back later for this entry.
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35 comments February 2nd, 2009
