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Boeing 787-10 | 2020



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Boeing 787-10 | 2020

Airline - Dhahrani
Aircraft - Boeing 787-10 | A9-VKA
Delivered to Dhahrani, 2020
Livery - Standard 2010
Country - Kingdom of Dhahran

In January 2020, Dhahrani took delivery of its first 787-10, the largest variant in the 787 family. The aircraft featured a brand-new hard product in all three classes, with massive improvements being made especially in First and Business Class. This hard product was initially meant to be introduced first on the 777-9 ordered by Dhahrani, which was meant to enter service in June 2020 at the latest, however delays in the 777X program have pushed back the delivery date for Dhahrani's 777-9s until mid-2021. Because of this, back in 2019 when the delays became apparent, Boeing made a deal with Dhahrani management and King Fathi Bin Khaleel Al Amin to delivery 787-10s to the airline earlier than planned (they were meant to be delivered towards the end of 2020) to add extra capacity to the fleet earlier on. Because of this deal, the new interior product ended up being revealed on the 787-10 before the 777-9. The 787-10 was inaugurated on the London Heathrow route on February 7th, 2020, replacing one of the daily frequencies operated by the 777-300ER. A total of twelve are on order, with three already in the fleet as of mid-March 2020.

Because of the global effects of COVID-19 on the air travel industry, Dhahrani has retired all A330-300s early, flying them to Victorville over a year ahead of the originally planned retirement date. Additionally, small parts of the 787 fleet, and the entire fleet of 777-300ERs, have been parked at King Khaleel International Airport in Ras Al Qua. Newly delivered 787-10s have taken over several 777 routes that have not yet been suspended. Despite massive air travel disruptions and the possibility of the Kingdom of Dhahran being quarantined temporarily to mitigate coronavirus spread, Dhahrani is not planning to defer any deliveries - instead, the plan is to store any surplus aircraft on-site in Ras Al Qua and be ready to ramp up service once the industry begins to recover, hopefully as soon as early summer 2020.


Disclaimer: This project is designed to look at the progression of aviation in a more-or-less generic fictional Middle Eastern state. The fictional Kingdom of Dhahran is located near the real Saudi Arabian city called Dhahran, but has no affiliation with it, and the name is a coincidence. Any other similarities to real people, locations, or situations may be intentional. I have zero knowledge of Arabic, so while I have spent considerable time trying to get it right, mistakes are possible, and any advice is greatly appreciated.