First 787 Arrives in Japan, ANA Preps for Service
The first Boeing 787 landed early Wednesday morning at Tokyo Haneda Airport carrying All Nippon Airways CEO Shinichiro Ito, following his appearance
ANA’s second 787, still sitting on Boeing property in Everett, Wash., will join the first airplane at the airline’s Tokyo base in the coming weeks. (Photo: Gregory Polek)
ANA’s second 787, still sitting on Boeing property in Everett, Wash., will join the first airplane at the airline’s Tokyo base in the coming weeks. (Photo: Gregory Polek)

The first Boeing 787 landed early Wednesday morning at Tokyo Haneda Airport carrying All Nippon Airways CEO Shinichiro Ito, following his appearance at the September 26 first delivery ceremony in Everett, Wash. Arrival of the first airplane marks the end of a three-year odyssey for ANA, during which repeated delays in delivery forced the airline into the delicate position of publicly supporting its supplier in Seattle while suffering through losses associated the absence of the 787 from its fleet.

To hear Ito speak at the first delivery ceremony in rain-soaked Everett last Monday, however, one wouldn’t have detected any lingering frustration, as the ANA boss accepted the ceremonial key to the 787 from Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh. “I cannot wait to see the day when the skies of the world are filled with 787s,” he said.