Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified for commercial flights the company’s 787-9 Dreamliner equipped with engines from General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). Boeing expects to deliver the first of the GE-equipped planes next week.
The 787-9 is the second version of the Dreamliner and is 20 feet longer, can carry more passengers and can fly farther than the 787-8. Passenger capacity rises from 242 to 280, and the flying range expands from around 9,000 miles to more than 9,500 miles.
The 787-9 equipped with engines from Rolls-Royce was certified in June and Boeing has already delivered planes with these engines to Air New Zealand and All Nippon Airways. The company’s first customer for the GE-equipped 787-9 is United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL).
The newly certified engine is one of six in the GEnx (next-generation) family. The GEnx-1B64, -1B67 and -1B70 are all certified for the 787-9 and the 787-8. The GE-1B70 is also planned to be certified for the 787-10, which is scheduled for delivery to Boeing customers in 2018.
Two weeks ago, a 787-8 owned by Thomson Airways and equipped with GE engines experienced an engine problem and the pilot had to shut down one of the two engines about 90 minutes into a scheduled 9.5-hour flight from the Dominican Republic to Manchester, England. The plane landed safely at a military base on the Azores about four hours after the engine was shut down.
Boeing’s stock closed down fractionally on Friday, at $127.46 in a 52-week range of $102.57 to $144.57.
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