JOIN USAfter a delay of nearly five years, the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner is likely to arrive here next week with Air India planning to take delivery of the aircraft on Tuesday.
"A total of three aircraft are ready for delivery at the Boeing's South Carolina factory. The first Dreamliner will take off from the US and is likely to arrive here on Tuesday," airline sources said.
The national carrier, which has ordered for 27 Dreamliners, will take the delivery of the rest two by early next month and get all the aircraft by the year 2016.
Air India was the second airline to place orders for 27 B-787s but is yet to receive the aircraft even as two Japanese carriers, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, have started flying them.
The first Dreamliner was to have been delivered to Air India in the year 2008.
Air India had placed orders for 27 Dreamliners in 2005 and was supposed to take the delivery of the first of them in September 2008 and the rest by October 2011.
But their delivery was delayed due to various factors, including labour trouble at Boeing.
Apart from it, the delay was caused in finalisation of compensation package.
The Air India Board had on May 28 approved an agreement with Boeing on the compensation package and forwarded it to the government for approval.
On August 3, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs permitted Air India to commence taking delivery of the Dreamliners after signing a compensation settlement agreement with Boeing.
Also, the delay was caused due to a probe by the US' National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) into the incident of failure of Dreamliner's engines during a pre-flight test on July 28 in which debris fell off the B-787's engine during a pre-flight test at the Charleston Airport in South Carolina.
Following this, civil aviation regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), sought a report from its counterpart in the US the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).
The DGCA has given safety clearance to Boeing 787 Dreamliner to fly to India.
The new carbon-composite aircraft can typically carry between 210 and 250 passengers on routes of 14,200 km to 15,200 km distance, while using 20 per cent less fuel than airplanes of a similar size.
The induction of the plane can enable Air India mount several new international flights.