Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jet, whose delivery to clients faces fresh delay, landed here Sunday after its first flight outside of the US ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow.
The test plane landed at Farnborough airport at 9:08am (0808 GMT), watched by journalists from around the world, ahead of the major week-long trade show that begins on Monday, where aircraft makers are hoping to secure major orders.
"It's such a nice plane," Mike Bryan, the pilot who flew the Dreamliner to Britain from the United States told reporters after landing. "I can't find a pilot who doesn't love it. I'm privileged enough to fly it." Last week, US aircraft maker Boeing said it may be forced to delay the delivery of its first fuel-efficient Dreamliner to 2011 from late this year - a date that was already more than two years behind schedule. It has secured 860 orders so far. Last month, Boeing said it had detected a "workmanship issue" with the horizontal stabiliser of the aircraft, whose innovative structure and manufacture across more than 100 sites has created many technical problems.