777-200LR Flight Test Journal: Archives

05 August 2005

Big finish

The 777-200LR has wrapped up the last two big stops on its World Tour before its return to the U.S. The Worldliner paid a three-day visit to India this week, with stops in Delhi and Mumbai. In both locations the 777-200LR generated a lot of interest from the media.

On Thursday, Boeing hosted the Delhi media group, including about 45 representatives from the major publications and broadcast organizations. Among the attendees: CNBC India, the Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, FinancialExpress, Economic Times, Hindu Business Line, NDTV, Reuters, Deccan Herald, Doordarshan and Sahara Samay.

Then the airplane flew on to Mumbai, where it was on static display for Air India and Jet Airways. More than 100 people toured the airplane in the morning, including pilots, maintenance personnel and the entire range of airplane associates. Then a group of 20 media representatives from the Economic Times, Business Standard, Financial Express, the Times of India and others toured the airplane.

All of this attention reflects India's booming civil aviation market, which could lead to the purchase of 490 aircraft over the next two decades. Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's vice-president for sales, said in an interview on Thursday that passenger traffic in India was likely to grow more than 20 percent over the next three to four years.

Next up for the Worldliner: a 9,000 nautical mile trip over the North Pole from India to San Francisco this weekend. And then it's back to Seattle.