The first commercial aircraft built primarily from carbon fibre composite materials. The Dreamliner changed long-haul flying with larger windows, higher cabin pressure, and dramatically better air quality.
✈ Scan Your Sky NowThe Boeing 787 Dreamliner represents the most significant leap in commercial aircraft technology since the jet age. By building the fuselage and wings primarily from carbon fibre reinforced polymer rather than aluminium, Boeing created an aircraft that is simultaneously lighter, stronger, and more resistant to fatigue than its predecessors.
The 787-9 is the stretched version of the original 787-8, offering greater range and capacity while retaining all the passenger-experience innovations that made the aircraft famous — electronically dimmable windows (no more pulling down the shade), cabin altitude pressurised to the equivalent of 6,000ft rather than the typical 8,000ft, higher humidity levels, and smoother LED mood lighting.
The 787 has one of the most distinctive silhouettes in the sky. Its wings flex dramatically upward in flight — more than any previous commercial aircraft — due to the composite structure. The raked wingtips angle sharply upward and backward, quite different from the blended winglets of the 737 or sharklets of the A320.
The GEnx engines are notably large in diameter for a twin-engine aircraft, with characteristic serrated (chevron) exhaust nozzles for noise reduction. The fuselage has a subtle flattening on the underside. On approach the aircraft seems remarkably quiet — the composite structure and engine design reduce noise significantly compared to aluminium aircraft.