Contracts have been signed, funds have been transferred and flight testing is complete. All is in readiness for the hand-over of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for commercial use. Boeing will mark the occasion with a delivery ceremony at its 787 factory in Everett, Washington, this morning before launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) flies its newest acquisition to Tokyo on Tuesday at 6:35 a.m.
The well documented delays in the 787 project have resulted in the first delivery taking place three years later than originally scheduled and the challenge now for Boeing is to meet an ambitious production schedule. There are already more than 800 Dreamliners on order and to meet this demand the company is aiming to churn out 10 of the mid-size, long-range airplane per month by late 2013 - an unprecedented feat for a wide-body aircraft (this WSJ article expands on the huge production task Boeing is embarking upon).
A webcast of this week's delivery ceremony events and flyaway will be shown at the Boeing site.