On 25 September 2011 Boeing and All Nippon Airways completed the contractual delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner. The next day, 26 September, the two companies held a ceremony beside the Everett factory in Washington State where the aircraft had been built. On 27 September it left Paine Field for Tokyo.

The aircraft was JA801A. In the photograph above, taken at Haneda in 2016, it wears ANA's special scheme with a large "787" on the forward fuselage.

Three years behind

The 787 had been a long time coming. When it was delivered, Reuters described the programme as three years behind schedule, and it entered service some three years later than originally planned. The delays came from the scale of what Boeing was attempting: a fuselage made largely of composite materials, built in large sections by partners around the world and brought together at Everett.

The first passenger flight followed on 26 October 2011, ANA from Tokyo Narita to Hong Kong.

Where JA801A went

Airliners rarely stay with their first operator for life, and the first 787 is no exception. By April 2024 JA801A was flying in the colours of AirJapan, an ANA group airline. The aircraft that opened the programme was still earning its keep more than twelve years after delivery.

Everywhere, now

Fifteen years on, the 787 is one of the most familiar long-haul aircraft in British skies. British Airways operates all three versions, the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10. Virgin Atlantic flies the 787-9, and TUI flies both the 787-8 and 787-9 from UK airports. Add the American, United and other overseas operators crossing the Atlantic and the type is hard to miss.

Six in under two hours

I can put a number on that. On 4 September 2026 I filmed the radar for a couple of hours at Prestwick. The screen labels each aircraft with its type, registration and callsign. In under two hours it showed six different 787s:

  • United UAL125, a 787-10, at 36,000 feet
  • American AAL55, a 787-9, at 36,000 feet
  • TUI TOM064, the 787-8 G-TUIH, at 37,975 feet
  • American AAL737, a 787-9, at 37,975 feet
  • Alaska ASA100, the 787-9 N783HA, at 39,000 feet
  • British Airways BAW193, the 787-10 G-ZBLL, at 35,975 feet

Six in under two hours, from five airlines. That matched the number of 777s in the same session.

It is a fair measure of what fifteen years has done. The aircraft that arrived three years late is now simply part of the background, cruising over at 36,000 feet on its way to or from North America.

Which airline's 787 have you flown on?

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