Boeing unveils 787 Dreamliner
July 9, 2007
Boeing unveiled its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner yesterday (07/08/07 - geddit?) in an elaborate ceremony at the manufacturer's Everett, Washington base.
The Boeing Company
The extensive media coverage will be welcome to Boeing after European rival Airbus grabbed the limelight by closing an astonishing number of deals at the Paris Air Show last month, including many orders for the A350 WXB, its hitherto troubled answer to the Dreamliner.
You'll know the Dreamliner pitch by now: the body is mostly carbon fibre, so it's lighter; it uses 20% less fuel than comparable aircraft; it's also rather nice to look at.
All good stuff, although the environmental lobby is already speculating that the 787's low operating costs will encourage airlines to buy and fly more of them, effectively negating the aircraft's fuel-efficiency benefits.
We'll see. Cheap to operate it may be, but its technical advances apparently make it a headache to manufacture, so concerns about 787s buzzing around like fruit flies are perhaps a little premature.
Personally, of all the pin-up aircraft currently making their way to market it's the Dreamliner I'm keenest to fly on, because I think the enormous windows are a great enhancement to passenger experience. But then I've never been an aisle man...
The Boeing Company
There's some video knocking around on the web, though nothing I can embed unfortunately - have a look at this Dreamliner search on Truveo for some of the best.
Nathan Midgley, web producer
Nathan Midgley
