The controversial Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft was delivered to China on June 7, 2013. The aircraft is the first of its kind delivered to China and it landed in Beijing. This event marks the beginning of commercial operation of the aircraft in the country.
The Dreamliner is a 228-seat aircraft, which is operated by China Southern Airlines. The aircraft departed Baiyun International Airport in the south China city of Guangzhou at 12:35 pm on Friday, June 7, 2013. It landed at Beijing Capital International Airport at 2:56 pm. The debut flight was originally scheduled for June 6, 2013, but was later postponed for the next day due to inclement weather.
The long-anticipated aircraft was delivered to the Chinese airline on Sunday, June 2, 2013. The aircraft will be initially used for flights between Guangzhou and Beijing and will later serve international flights from Guangzhou to Paris, London, Vancouver and Auckland. Sources from the company confirmed these international flights planned for the future.
The flight on Friday, June 7, 2013 makes China Southern the only airline in the world to operate the long-haul Boeing 787 and Airbus 380 aircraft. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft stirred a lot of controversy recently, as it faced grounding of its fleet across the globe due to safety reasons.
