787 finishes stage of flight tests, clearing another hurdle before first delivery

The Boeing Co.’s new 787 has finished extended operations flight tests, clearing one of the final hurdles between the Dreamliner and first delivery.

Boeing completed extended operations flight testing on Sunday, Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s vice president of marketing, wrote on his blog Tuesday. T

his testing will allow the initial 787s to be delivered to fly up to three hours away from a landing field. Boeing plans to deliver the first 787 to Japan’s All Nippon Airways by the end of September.

Eventually, after Boeing modifies software on the 787 next year, the company’s Dreamliners will be able to fly up to five and a half hours away from an air strip, Tinseth wrote.

Tinseth noted that one of the 787s that Boeing is using for flight testing recently completed an 18-hour long flight.

In the next few weeks, Boeing will complete additional testing meant to gain preliminary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for 787s with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

The Dreamliner’s launch customer, ANA, has planned the first 787 commercial flight in October. The flight will be a charter flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

Boeing has more than 800 orders for its fuel-efficient Dreamliner.