Boeing Rolls Out First Production 787-10 for Singapore Airlines

ZC003 for Singapore Airlines.  Boeing Image

ZC003 Rolling out of the Charleston Final assembly Line. Boeing Image

Boeing has rolled out the 1st production 787-10 destined for Singapore Airlines sometime in the second Quarter of 2018.

The aircraft, ZC003 (LN 622, 9V-SCB) will undergo painting followed by extensive ground testing for the remainder of the year. According to sources it will then be placed into storage until March where it will then undergo flight tests starting approximately in mid March.  It will continue testing activities into April and there appears to be a tentative delivery time frame of mid to late April 2018.

Oddly this aircraft may not be the first 787-10 delivered to Singapore but the second one.  ZC004 (LN 656) is tentatively scheduled to be delivered in March but that may change.  This aircraft is not due to start final assembly until late November/early December.  I'm pretty certain ZC003 will join the flight test program late in the 1st quarter of 2018 thus this is the reason why it would be delivered after ZC004.

Here's Boeing's press release on the roll out of ZC003, the only thing of note is that Boeing states that the 19 additional 787-10 that has been ordered by Singapore is still a letter of intent though the final order was signed months ago and is now a done deal and even listed on Boeing's Order and Delivery web site (listed as unidentified).  Why they're doing that I do not know.

Boeing Rolls Out Singapore Airlines' First 787-10 Dreamliner

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., Oct. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has rolled out the first 787-10 Dreamliner built for Singapore Airlines at its Final Assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. 

The airplane will now undergo the painting of the airline's livery and begin its system checks, fueling, and engine runs. Singapore Airlines is due to take delivery of its first 787-10 in the first half of 2018 and will be operated on the airline's medium-haul routes. 

Singapore Airlines is the launch customer of the 787-10 and currently has 30 airplanes on firm order. The airline also signed a letter of intent in February to purchase 19 additional 787-10s. 

 "Boeing is excited to have finished final assembly of the first 787-10 Dreamliner for Singapore Airlines," said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, Asia Pacific & India Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "With its unprecedented efficiency, greater capacity and the Dreamliner's known preferred passenger experience, the 787-10 will be an important part of the airline's future fleet." 

As an 18-foot (5.5-m) stretch of the 787-9, the 787-10 will deliver the 787 family's preferred passenger experience and long range with 25 percent better fuel per seat and emissions than the airplanes it will replace. 

The 787 Dreamliner family offers a modern, optimized and efficient airplane family in every market segment. Since entering service in 2011, the 787 family has flown more than 190 million people on more than 560 unique routes around the world, saving an estimated 18 billion pounds of fuel.