KENYA AIRWAYS AND BOEING SHOW OFF THE DREAMLINER
December 14th has been set as the long awaited date, that Boeings new wonderplane, the B787 Dreamliner is finally making an appearance over the skies of Kenya, a harbinger of things to come when The Pride of Africa finally can take delivery of the first of 9 firm orders and 4 further options come 2013.
Ordered initially several years ago, the first delivery last month to Japans ANA was years overdrawn and resulted in equally long delays for the East African Communitys predominant airline, Kenya Airways. The B787 is upon delivery due to replace the ageing fleet of B767 aircraft, offering substantially lower operating expenses as well as provide more capacity for passengers and cargo, while at the same time greatly enhancing the inflight experience for passengers through improved cabin pressure settings at lower altitude, greater humidity in the hitherto very dry cabin atmosphere and substantially larger windows, made possible by the use of composite materials in the manufacturing of the worlds latest wide body aircraft.
Initial feedback from passengers on the ANA B767 has confirmed, if not outright exceeded expectations and the promises made by Boeing so far have come true, for the airline as well it appears, though it is early days to draw real comparisons in operating costs for the new bird.
It was announced here a while ago that Boeing had confirmed a world tour of the new aircraft, to show the B787 off to airlines with orders, and to promote additional sales of the new aircraft and this is now becoming reality with the clock ticking towards the morning of the 14th of December, when both Kenya Airways and Boeing will be presenting the Dreamliner at Nairobis Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Invited guests from the corporate world and the regional media will be able to not just step into the plane while on the ground but also experience a flight from Nairobi to Mombasa, allowing one to judge directly what improvements the new aircraft offers over the conventional wide bodies like the B777.
With the invitation for the event duly received and accepted, expect live tweets from Nairobi and a subsequent report on just how exciting that special flight will have been, so as usual, watch this space.
2 Responses
This is really exciting news. Only thing that could be better, would be catching a ride on the Dreamliner while in Nairobi.
However, failing that ,I look forward to vicariously enjoying your on board experience, through your tweets.
Hmm.. wonder if this is the same 787 Dreamliner that was at the Dubai Air show?
Safari njema kwa ndege ya ndoto. Have a good/great flight on the Dreamliner.
Kudos to KQ.
althou so excited about it, some of us may not even see it other than stepping in it. the KQ management must be told that the campany is not 4 staff but 4 all kenyans.I call 4 balance not only staff and thnx 4 new flight.