Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) announced on Monday that the company’s 787-9 Dreamliner has been certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to commence commercial service. The first of the planes is scheduled for delivery to Air New Zealand sometime this summer.
The 787-9 can carry 280 passengers up to 9,500 miles, a boost in both capacity and range from the 787-8, which has capacity for 242 passengers and can fly distances up to 9,000 miles. A third variant, the 787-10, is currently being designed with seating capacity of 323 and a range of about 8,000 miles. The twin-engine, wide-body 787 family planes have a cruising speed of around 650 miles per hour.
Boeing lists 413 orders for the 787-9. The four largest customers for the plane are All Nippon Airways and American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL), each with an order for 30, and United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) and ILFC, now part of AerCap N.V. (NYSE: AER), each with an order for 26 of the planes.
The 787-9 has a list price of $249.5 million, compared with $211.8 million for the 787-8 and the 787-10, which has a current list price of $288.7 million, but the plane is not scheduled for first delivery until 2018.
Boeing has taken orders for 486 787-8s and has delivered 147. The plane was grounded for three months in early 2013 due to fire problems with some of the batteries.
Boeing stock traded at $132.14 in the noon hour on Monday, in a 52-week range of $96.31 to $144.57.
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