Boeing 787-8
The original Dreamliner — the jet that opened long, thin routes · First flight 2009 · In service 2011
The 787-8 is where the Dreamliner story starts. Prototype N787BA lifted off from Paine Field, Everett, on 15 December 2009, more than two years behind the original schedule, and launch customer All Nippon Airways flew the first commercial 787 service on 26 October 2011.
At 56.7 m it is the shortest member of the family, seating roughly 200–275 passengers in two classes and flying up to about 14,800 km. That combination — widebody range with a mid-size cabin — let airlines link city pairs that could never fill a 747 or 777.
Its early years were rough: in January 2013 the whole in-service 787 fleet was grounded for about three months after lithium-ion battery fires, until Boeing redesigned the battery installation. Some 400 787-8s have since been delivered.
