ANA’s Dreamliner order hits snags

TOKYO: All Nippon Airways said yesterday it was trying to assess the impact of another delivery delay in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which the Japanese carrier was to be the first to put into flight.
“We just received the notice only several hours ago, and we are trying to see how it will affect our plans,” Yoshifumi Fukumori, spokesman for Japan’s second largest carrier, said.
“We will have to closely assess the potential impact to our company,” he said.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) placed orders in 2004 for 50 of the next-generation jets, making it the so-called “launch customer”. It planned to receive the first in early 2008 and fly them in time for the Beijing Olympics.
However, Boeing twice announced delays last year in the delivery schedule of the new fuel-efficient jet.
In the latest announcement, Boeing said the first flight of the 787 had been moved from the end of the first quarter of this year “to around the end of the second quarter to provide additional time to complete assembly of the first airplane.”
Deliveries are now expected to begin in early 2009, rather than late 2008, Boeing said on Wednesday. – AFP