Well it seems someone else is going to get a 787 before Air India and United Airlines.
LAN Airlines (Part of the LATAM Group) will be the 4th carrier to receive a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with a delivery date of 30th August. This will also make LAN the South American launch carrier of the 787.
The aircraft (Registration CC-BBA) was completed in July and will be unveiled in a ceremony at Boeing’s Everett facilities on 30 August.
It s planned the aircraft will depart Everett on the 31st August at 17:00, and arrive in Santiago on 1 September at about 09:00 according to LAN.
LATAM has 32 787’s on order with Boeing, and will be delivered with Rolls Royce Trent 1000 powerplants.
LAN’s 787-8’s will be configured with
- 30 Business Class Seats
- 217 Economy Class Seats
No exact configuration has been confirmed, but it would be surprising if LAN didn’t go with a standard 2-2-2 in business and 3-3-3 in Economy.
In terms of routes, LAN is planning to operate their first 787 to either Los Angeles or Buenos Aires. As more 787 frames come on stream over the next 10 years. Madrid, Frankfurt and Lima will be in line for 787 traffic.
Well, Boeing is trying to keep to its commitment to get more 787’s out of the door – with more carriers getting deliveries. They’ll be common as muck soon enough, but for now, lets enjoy these new birds as they take to the air.
Air India is not going to pick them up anytime soon I suspect. too much of govt. baggage.