KENYA AIRWAYS’ FIRST B787 DREAMLINER ‘UNDER CONSTRUCTION’
(Posted 18th January 2014)
Information was received from a source at Boeing, notably NOT from Kenya Airways, that the Pride of Africa’s first B787 Dreamliner, due for delivery in March this year, is now advancing with its assembly at the Boeing facility in Seattle.
Kenya Airways has 9 of these aircraft on firm order and holds options for at least 4 more, though all indications are that these options will be firmed up to orders soon, with more to follow.
Under the airline’s ambitious Plan Mawingo is Kenya’s national airline seeking to fly from presently 65 destinations to 115 on all continents by the financial year 2021/22, which will required the fleet to grow from presently 45 aircraft to 119 aircraft, including as many as 12 freighters.
The world’s most advanced passenger aircraft, the B787, will be playing a major role in that rollout of destinations, as it offers over 20 percent fuel consumption savings compared to the B767, which at present is still the workhorse long haul aircraft on the Kenya Airways fleet.
Be sure to watch this space for upcoming news as the delivery date for the B787 comes closer, updates from Boeing and hopefully from Kenya Airways too, to keep readers fully informed as the last weeks prior to delivery of the aircraft in Seattle and the ferry flight home to Nairobi tick down.
(Kenya Airways’ first B787 ‘under construction’)
