First Dreamliner for Air India to land on Saturday

Air India’s long wait for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is finally over, with the first of these long-haul planes set to arrive here on Saturday, sources said today.

The national carrier, which had placed orders for 27 of these aircraft six years ago, would get its first Dreamliner on Saturday, which is to be followed by the delivery of two more within the next few weeks.

With these new aircraft, Air India, which intends to get 14 of them by March next year, would launch flights on several long-haul international sectors, including new services to Australia, later this year.

For the next few weeks, the Dreamliner would be operated on the domestic sectors, including Delhi-Mumbai, to enable the pilots and crew get accustomed to its landings and take-offs.

The plane is made of carbon composite material, which makes it light-weight and therefore is considered less fuel guzzler. Boeing claims the plane consumes 20 per cent less fuel compared with the similar-sized B-767s and better fuel efficiency implies lower flying costs.

According to Boeing, as many as 47 airlines across the world have ordered nearly 900 Dreamliners.

The long-range, twin-engine aircraft has four variants, with the longest-range variant capable of flying over 15,000 kms non-stop.