Etihad Airways unveiled its first B787-9 in its new livery, and will deploy the aircraft on revenue service from 1 December 2014. The airplane is painted in the airline’s new ‘Facets of Abu Dhabi’ livery with colours reminiscent of the desert landscape, inspired by the culture, Islamic design and architecture motifs of the United Arab Emirates.  

“We are one of the largest airline customers for the Dreamliner, an aircraft that will play a fundamental role in the future of our growing international network,” said James Hogan, president and CEO, Etihad Airways.

Etihad Airways is one of the world’s largest customers for the 787 with a total of 71 Dreamliners on order, including 41 787-9s and 30 787-10s. The 787 will be a key part of Etihad Airways’ fleet and network expansion plans. The airline has announced that the 787-9 will be introduced on six of the airline’s routes: Düsseldorf, Germany; Doha, Qatar; Washington, D.C.; Mumbai; Brisbane, Australia and Moscow.

The new 787-9 complements and extends the 787 family. With the fuselage stretched by 6 metres over the 787-8, the 787-9 can fly more passengers and more cargo farther with the same exceptional environmental performance – 20 per cent less fuel use and 20 per cent fewer emissions than the airplanes it replaces,according to Boeing.