787- At last!

                                                         
From left, Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina; Air India Capt. A. S. Soman; Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of Asia-Pacific and India Sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes; and M. L. Franklin, Air India technical team leader, celebrate delivery of Air India’s first 787.

Neelam Mathews

Sept 7, 2012

After a lot of dilly-dallying, Air India on Thursday took  delivery of its first Boeing 787 (of 27 ordered) at Charleston, South Carolina facility of Boeing. The 787 will land in Delhi on Sept 8. It will then be ferried to Mumbai and the Air India crew is expected to return to Charleston for the airline’s second 787, likely to take around ten days.

“The 787 will allow Air India to open new routes in a dynamic marketplace and provide the best in-flight experience for our passengers,” Air India chairman and managing director, Rohit Nandan said in a statement.

Air India is expected to operate the 787 on the domestic sectors, including Delhi-Mumbai before it flies to international sectors. Recently Boeing Sr Vice President Asia Pacific and India Dinesh Keskar said three aircraft were ready for delivery. He did not commit a date for the fourth delivery when queried by Aerospace Diary. “We do not talk of delivery dates,” he said.

The airline has trained 64 pilots to fly the 787.