A STRETCHED version of the B787 Dreamliner has been certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for commercial service.
Boeing is in the final stages of preparing for the first B787-9 delivery to launch customer Air New Zealand.
“Certification is the culmination of years of hard work and a rigorous flight-test programme that started with the B787-9’s first flight last September,” says Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ president Ray Conner.
Boeing undertook a comprehensive test programme with five aircraft and more than 1,500 hours of flight testing, plus ground and laboratory testing before achieving certification that the design complies with aviation regulations and is safe and reliable.
The -9 Dreamliner has a fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 metres) longer than the B787-8, and can fly more passengers and more cargo further with the same exceptional environmental performance — 20 per cent less fuel use and 20 per cent fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes.
