New Delhi, Sep 8: On Saturday, Air India became the fourth global airline to induct the
world’s newest passenger aircraft, the Boeing 787, known as the
Dreamliner.
The first of the 27 Boeing 787s that the airline is to induct, touched
down at the IGI airport here around 5 p.m. after an over eight-hour
flight from Frankfurt. On touch-down, the aircraft was given a
traditional water cannon salute with fire tenders standing on each side
of the runway spraying the aircraft as it taxied down the runway.
Soon after landing, the aircraft taxied to remote bay 91 and once the
engines were switched off, a small puja was done, attended by Air
India’s Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan, and other airline
staffers.
Air India should have been the second global airline after Japanese
carrier ANA to take delivery of the aircraft. However, for a variety of
reasons, including the recent pilots’ agitation and the Government panel
taking time to decide on the compensation that Air India should receive
for the over four-year delay in delivery of the aircraft, the
Dreamliner landed only on Saturday.
For at least one member of the crew, Captain Amitabh Singh, the
touch-down of the 787 aircraft gave a sense of déjà-vu. Captain Singh
was part of the operating crew that flew non-stop from Seattle to Delhi
on the first Boeing 777 that the airline inducted in 2007.
The Boeing 787 has 256 seats, including 18 full flat-bed seats in
business class and 238 seats in economy. The aircraft has a capacity to
fly between 5,130 and 6,610 nautical miles.
Jet Airways is the only other Indian carrier to have ordered the aircraft.
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