The first UK-based airline is getting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner this week. Thomas Airways took the delivery this week, making it the first British carrier to have one of the jets.
The delivery flight left the Boeing factory in Everett, Washi., on Thursday and landed in Manchester, England on Friday morning in front of thousands of spectators.
"This is as good as it gets," Thomson managing director Chris Browne told Business Traveller magazine while onboard the delivery flight. "When you spend nine years working on it and you get to finally bring it home, it's a great experience."
The British Airline has ordered eight Dreamliners. Another one of the eight is scheduled to arrive on June 1 and the airline will have its third plane by the end of the summer, Business Traveller reports.
"The extended flying range of the Dreamliner also unlocks a host of new and exciting holiday options for our customers, increasing the range of long-haul destinations available with Thomson Airways from four UK airports," Browne said in a Thomson release about the arrival of the 787 at the airline.
Thomson will begin using the plane for long-haul flights starting July 8. The Dreamliner will makes its first round-trip flight between Manchester, England, and Florida's Orlando Sanford airport. One the same day, a Dreamliner will be used for a nonstop flight service between Glasgow, Scotland, and Cancun, Mexico.
The airline is also expected to use the planes for short-haul flight across Europe as it prepares for longer trans-Atlantic routes. They also plan to fly the Dreamliner from London Gatwick and East Midlands airports. Later this year, the airline will also have nonstop 787 flights to Phuket, Thailand.
The airline's Dreamliner jets will seat 291 people with 47 seats in the Premium Club section and 224 seats in coach.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
