Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 has made its maiden flight from Boeing’s Everett factory near Seattle.
The first test flight – known as B1 and conducted by Boeing test pilots – took off from Everett at 1.45pm local on May 28 and landed three hours and 10 minutes later after reaching an altitude of 39,000 feet and a speed of 360 knots.
The ‘all-black’ aircraft, which will be registered ZK-NZE, will conduct a series of test flights by Boeing and Air New Zealand pilots before being delivered to the airline in July. It is expected to debut on the Auckland to Perth route from October 15. Other planned 787-9 destinations include Shanghai and Tokyo.
Further images of the aircraft can be seen on the archive.com website.
