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Arrival time
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New Delhi, June 11: Boeing has given the final touches to the Air India Dreamliner according to the specifications of the national carrier. The first of the 27 B787 Dreamliners is due to arrive soon.
“The jet was in Texas for the past week and was getting painted. It now sports the red, white and gold livery of Air India. This will be the first aircraft coming out of Boeing’s brand new facility in Charleston South Carolina. We have been told that the aircraft is complete according to our specifications,” said an Air India official.
According to AI officials, a team of its technicians, pilots and experts will fly to South Carolina to hold tests. “Our team is ready and soon they will be leaving for the US. After we conduct all our tests we will send the report to the ministry. Once we get the ministry’s approval, we will take the delivery of the aircraft,” added the official.
Boeing has also agreed to pay compensation to Air India for the over-three-year delay in the delivery of the Dreamliner, but the amount has been kept under wraps. Two years ago, Air India had sought a $710-million package and since then, several rounds of negotiations have taken place.
Last month, the Air India board had agreed on a compensation package from the US aircraft maker and sent it to the government for approval. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said the matter would be taken up by the cabinet committee on economic affairs at its next meeting.
The minister said the first three Dreamliners were expected to be delivered in June, while five to six more would arrive over the next few months, taking the total to eight or nine planes this year.
However, Singh had confirmed that the aircraft would be delivered only after the compensation package was finalised. The national carrier had placed orders for 27 B787s in 2005. According to the original schedule, Boeing was supposed to deliver the Dreamliners from September 2008.
Boeing is likely to adjust the price with the delivery of each aircraft as compensation for the delay. As of last year, the list price of a B-787 was about $194 million.
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