B787 oppdatering

Stretch Dreamliner makes its first flight


Boeing 787-9
The first Boeing 787-9, a longer version of the company's Dreamliner, is seen at the company's factory in Everett, Wash.


A longer version of Boeing Co's Dreamliner made its first flight on Tuesday, passing a key milestone for a plane that should be more profitable both for Boeing to sell and for its customers to operate than the current production model.

The 787-9 jet, which left the ground at 11:02 a.m., has room for 290 passengers, 40 more than the original 787-8 jetliner, and has about 300 more nautical miles of range. That means Boeing can charge $37.7 million more for the plane at list price, and airlines can sell more seats on longer routes.

Boeing has unfilled orders for 936 Dreamliners, worth about $217 billion at list prices, or nearly eight years worth of production at its target construction rate of 10 per month, which it aims to hit by year's end.

About 41 percent of the orders, or 388 planes, are for the 787-9. Boeing began selling an even longer version of the jet, the 787-10, in June. It has garnered 50 orders so far. The rest of the orders are for the 787-8