Milestone Order Mark Comes One Year Before Scheduled Deliveries

500. A number that goes hand-in-hand with Fortune, Indianapolis, and now... the Boeing 787. In a Tuesday morning press briefing, Boeing announced the 787 Dreamliner has surpassed the 500-orders mark, with a follow-on order from Japan Airlines.

"Today we are celebrating some great news with one of our great customers," said Scott Carson, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "This is an unprecedented achievement for Boeing and yet another wonderful milestone for the 787 program. We are very gratified that the 787 will play a key role in the future plans of JAL and so many other industry-leading airline customers."

The JAL order for five 787-8 airplanes -- in addition to several orders from unidentified customers -- brings the 787's order total to 514 airplanes from 43 customers since its launch on April 26, 2004. That makes the 787 the fastest-selling commercial airplane in history. The follow-on increases JAL's total 787 order to 35 airplanes, from their previous order of 30 in December 2004.

"The 787 will be a key airplane on a variety of international and domestic routes, said Kunio Shimizu, vice president of Engineering & Quality Assurance Department for the Americas, Japan Airlines International Corp. "We are expecting the benefits of the 787 to provide efficiency and flexibility in our route planning and are also looking forward to the wonderful flying experience the 787 will provide to our customers."

As ANN reported recently, the 787 is due for rollout on July 8 of this year (07/08/07... don't ever accuse Boeing of not having a sense of whimsy -- Ed.) with first flight scheduled for late August. Barring any delays, certification and first deliveries will follow in late 2008.

"Surpassing the 500 order mark this early in the program -- more than a year before the first airplane is delivered -- shows that Boeing made the right choice in our point-to-point business strategy, and that the 787 team made the right choices in designing the airplane," said Mike Bair, 787 vice president and general manager. "This is an enormous compliment to the people around the world who are working hard to ensure we keep the promises we've made to our customers."

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.jal.com