News: Virgin order 15 new Dreamliner jets

Flights > News > # 1255 (25/04/2007)

Virgin Atlantic has made the largest order yet by a European airline for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner.
Virgin Atlantic is ordering 15 of the 787-9 Dreamliners - with options on ordering another eight 787-9s and purchase rights on a further 20 aircraft.
The 787-9 Dreamliner burns around 27% less fuel per passenger than the A340-300, the aircraft it will replace in the Virgin Atlantic fleet. The order will see Virgin Atlantic take delivery of its new planes from 2011 and could be worth up to US$8 billion (£4 billion).
Boeing says its new jet, which can carry up to 290 passengers depending on the bed or seat layout, will substantially reduce the industry’s impact on the environment. Its innovative design, with over half of the aircraft built from composite materials, helps to reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions significantly. The noise footprint of the 787-9 is also 60% lower than the A340-300.
As part of its drive for greater fuel efficiency, Virgin Atlantic also revealed that it would hold a joint bio-fuel demonstration, with Boeing, Virgin Fuels and engine maker GE Aviation, on one of its aircraft next year. Boeing and Virgin Atlantic are also working in partnership to cut aircraft emissions on the ground. Trials of towing Virgin Atlantic planes to so-called ‘starting-grids’, which have been carried out at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as well as at San Francisco, have produced positive results which will be used to find alternatives to traditional taxi-ing procedures at the world’s busiest airports.
Virgin Atlantic chairman, Sir Richard Branson, said: “We are totally focused on delivering a cleaner airline in the air and on the ground. The 787 Dreamliner symbolizes the environmentally-kinder aircraft of the future - cleaner, quieter, lighter and truly the best experience in the air."

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