Korean Air (KAL) has had the delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner delayed by ten months, joining a growing list of carriers with delayed deliveries.
The airline, which has 10 787-8s on order, had initially expected the first to arrive in 2011. It is scheduled to receive airplane 59, which would have put the delivery later in 2011.
"The aircraft has been delayed for sure, for about ten months," says a KAL senior executive at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines assembly of presidents.
Boeing announced in August that first delivery of the 787 to launch operator All Nippon Airways would be delayed to the mid-first quarter of 2011 from end-2010.
Japan Airlines, which has 35 firm orders for the 787, has also had its first delivery delayed to June 2011 earliest from March 2011.
KAL says, however, that it will not be adversely affected by the delay."We can manage in the marketplace for now with our current fleet," says the senior executive.
The carrier is also scheduled to take delivery of its first Airbus A380 in May 2011. It has 10 of the superjumbo jet on order.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
