Air India is hoping that the arrival of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will launch a revival of the trouble-plagued airline.
Loss-making Air India is the fifth airline in the world to add the Dreamliner to its fleet, joining All Nippon, Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and LAN
The first Dreamliner has been a long time arriving in New Delhi.
Protracted compensation negotiations with Boeing over delivery delays, interference by Indian politicians, and a strike by Air India pilots over who would be trained to fly the Dreamliner, combined to delay the launch.
Air India now says it expects to have five Dreamliners in its fleet by March when it will start flights to new destinations in an attempt to regain market share ceded to rivals such as Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
The B787 is expected to operate on major domestic routes followed by daily flights to New York, Melbourne and Osaka from Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi.
by Ian Jarrett
