787 at Paris and nears first delivery

Boeing’s brand new 787 is expected to be the star of the Paris Air Show which gets under way Monday 20 June.  Details have still to be released of Le Bourget happenings which will probably include a fully configured ready for service passenger aircraft.  Boeing, together with launch customer ANA, unveiled plans last week for a series of route proving flights from 4 July with the aircraft based at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Using the second flight test aircraft, known as ZA002, they will simulate in-service operations across several airports in Japan in a service ready operational validation.  Anticipated city pairs include trips between Haneda and airports in Osaka (Itami and Kansai), Okayama and Hiroshima.

First rolled out in August 2007 the 787 was initially planned for introduction during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  In spite of production delays the aircraft has still set pre-certification records with 835 firm orders to date and options taking it well past the 1,000 mark. www.boeing.com/commercial

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