The first commercial flight of the new 787 drew high praise from passengers traveling from Tokyo to Hong Kong yesterday.
According to USA Today: "ANA Flight 7871 departed Tokyo at 12:23 p.m. local time today, landing in Hong Kong about 4 hours later. The flight was feted by inaugural ceremonies in both cities, including a "dragon dance" performance upon landing in Hong Kong."
ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito was among the roughly 240 passengers on the flight, and he walked back the aisles to personally thank some of those on board for their business. More than 25,000 people applied for the 100 seats ANA opened to the public. Another six business class seats were auctioned off for charity, with one bidder paying more than $33,000 to secure a seat on the flight.
Boeing's 787 is the new carbon-fiber aircraft which is revolutionizing commercial aviation. Boeing 787 production is ramping up in Everett and Charlston, SC, as they are coming into service. Boeing has nearly 800 orders and most recent production figures show that a dozen are complete and in the process of being delivered and put into service. All were assembled at Everett's Paine Field.
This is great news for Boeing and Washington.
