Saudia Arabian Airlines (or Saudia as it goes by) has become the latest Boeing customer to take delivery of their first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
Saudi Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner – Image, The Boeing Company
It was delivered from the Boeing plant in Charleston, SC.
The aircraft is the first of 10 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners (the longer length variant), which will be used in Saudia’s fleet and route development.
As such, it can hold 40 more passengers than a Boeing 787-9 with a range of 6,345 nautical miles (11,750km).
Saudia is a Boeing long haul customer, operating the smaller Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (13 aircraft) and the Boeing 777-300ER (33 aircraft) in its long haul fleet.
In quotes
Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Director General, SAUDIA said
“SAUDIA operates a state-of-the-art fleet equipped with the latest technology, and in addition to the airline’s existing Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, is now adding the 787-10 variant which will further support future network growth plans,”
“The airplane’s onboard cabin features, long range capability and the latest in technological advancements are among the many aspects of what makes the Boeing 787 highly popular with our guests.”
Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing, The Boeing Company said
“SAUDIA has been a valued partner with Boeing for nearly 75 years and this delivery marks another major milestone in our partnership. Our team takes great pride in building and delivering quality aircraft to SAUDIA and we are honored by the continuing confidence in the 787 Dreamliner and 777 families,”
“The addition of the 787-10 to SAUDIA’s fleet will continue the superior inflight experience that passengers have come to expect of the Dreamliner. Moreover, the unmatched fuel efficiency of the 787 will help SAUDIA open new routes and achieve significant fuel savings and emission reduction.”
The growth of the 787-10
The Boeing 787-10 is growing further – with over 30 aircraft delivered to seven operators. As airlines seek to replace their older long-range aircraft (the Boeing 777-200 family being an obvious target), the 787 is sliding its way in – filling in the 767-300ER/777-200 gap, whilst targeting the Airbus A330 family
And the Boeing 787 family has done its part in route development – with Boeing saying that thanks to the type – more than 235 new point-to-point routes have been opened.
It’ll be interesting to see where these new aircraft are deployed.
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