Boeing Co's UK president is confident it will deliver its first 787 Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways by the end of 2010, and said the worst of the passenger downturn appeared to be over. "The target is to deliver to the Japanese customer by the end of this year, and we're confident on that," Roger Bone, the president of Boeing UK told Reuters in an interview on January 26.
The 787 now has initial orders of 851 aircraft from various airlines around the world. "There are signs that the worst of a really dark period is behind us. The impact this year will remain significant for our customers, but the passenger base is beginning to pick up again, which is a good sign," said Bone.
Boeing's Dreamliner twin-aisle, mid-sized plane, which can carry up to 330 people over very long distances, completed its first test flight last month, and Bone is optimistic that the programme will hit its targets.
"We're now into an intense testing programme, which is running to schedule. Normally the gap from first flight to first delivery to customer is nine to 12 months, and that's the type of schedule we think we will stick to," said Bone. Bone also said Boeing was confident the European Union's (EU) complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that tax credits received by Boeing from the US government were illegal would be proved false.
He added that the FRES programme to provide network-linked vehicles, for which Boeing co-designs systems, was "no longer actual in terms of our calculation of contracts over next couple of years".
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