Boeing's first Dreamliner to take off for Tokyo
Boeing is scheduled to deliver its first 787 Dreamliner to Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) next week in a historic event to be witnessed by executives from both firms and the international media.
The aircraft will fly out from the aircraft maker's facilities in Everett, Seattle, on Monday and land in Tokyo the following day. The new aircraft's first passenger flight will be a chartered one from Tokyo's Narita Airport to Hong Kong.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size and twin-engine jet airliner seating 210 to 290 passengers. The manufacturer says that the Dreamliner, made out of composite materials, is the most fuel-efficient jet it has built so far. The 787 consumes 20 per cent less fuel than Boeing 767, which is of a similar size. The jet's other distinguishing features include a four-panel windshield, noise-reducing chevrons on its engine cover as well as smoother contours.
Meanwhile, Thai Airways International recently signed up for 37 aircraft through a lease-and-purchase deal worth Bt118.6 billion. The deal includes six Boeing 777-300ERs, four Airbus A350-900s and five A320-200s.
Roei Ganzarski, chief customer officer for Boeing Flight Services, told the Asia-Pacific Airline Training Symposium held in Bangkok recently that the aviation industry needed to "bring the sexy back".
Over the next 20 years, more than 30,000 new commercial aeroplanes will be taking to the skies, and the industry will need up to 460,000 pilots, or nearly twice the number of pilots flying today.
Ganzarski added that the pilots needed a new generation of instructors, who were selected according to their abilities rather than the number of hours flown or the number of stripes on their sleeves.
