Excitement is building among plane enthusiasts as Boeing  premiered its new 787 Dreamliner at its plant in Seattle. The firm has so far received 642 orders for the mid-size, longhaul jet from 46 airlines and  leasing firms. Sunday was chosen forDreamliner’s unveiling.
The first flight is expected in August or September,with the plane due to go into service next year. The first customer to get the jet will be Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which is being rewarded for placing orders for 50 of the aircraft.
Transatlantic-rivalry The Dreamliner is Boeing’s first all-newplane. It is crucial to Boeing’s success, just as Airbus is pinning its hopes for the future on its forthcoming A380. However, the two are different planes with different aims.
The European firm sees its superjumbo plane as a response to airline calls for a bigger plane to meet increasing
passenger numbers flying tomajor hubs.
However, Boeing is taking a different track, predicting that the future growth sectorwill be for additional medium-sized planes that can service more of smaller airports, unable to handle the A380.
Airbus is currently developing the A350 more of a direct rival to the 787, but it is not expected to roll out the plane until about 2011.
Boeing received a boost at the Paris air show with an order for 50 of the aircraft from one of the world’s biggest jet leasing groups, International Lease Finance Corps (ILFC).
Orders from plane-leasing companies, one of the big global buyers of aircraft, are often seen as an indication of how a model will succeed in the long term. Boeing says that the plane, the first to be built primarily from modern composite materials, was designed to be fuel-efficient.
Carbon fibre, about 50 per cent of the structure, is lighter and durable than aluminium. Assembly of the first Dreamliner began in May, but Boeing says when fully operational, it will take just three days to put together each aircraft. Competition in air The Boeing 787 and the AirbusA350will be the first commercial jets to be made more than 50 per cent from extremely light-weight
plastic composites rather than aluminum. Both Boeing and Airbus say these new-generation planes will reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent compared with comparablysised jets flying today, such as the A330 and the Boeing 767.The 787 is due to enter commercial service next May, five years ahead of the A350. Mike Bair, General Manager of the 787 programme,recently said that the production slots for the plane were sold out almost through the end of 2013, which means new customers will not be likely to get their first planes before 2014.
Fabrice Bregier, the Airbus COO, confirmed recently that the European plane maker was committed to its latest design and that manufacturing was scheduled to begin by the end of 2008.Final assembly of the first A350 is set to begin in 2011, followed by test flights in 2012. John Leahy, Airbus’ Chief Salesman, said that despite the programme’s early stumbles, customer confidence in the craft was growing.