With the 787 in service, ANA leads the way in exploring how best to operate the new type.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner arrived Monday at the Beijing Capital International Airport, making its debut in mainland China, marking the start of a six-month worldwide Dream Tour with the all-new aircraft. The US manufacturer said the 787 will be in China Dec. 4-11, with further stops in Guangzhou and Haikou. The 787 entered service Oct. 26 when launch customer All Nippon Airways flight 7871 landed at Hong Kong from Tokyo Narita (ATW Daily News, Oct. 27).

Russia`s second-largest carrier Transaero (UN) has confirmed an order for eight Airbus A320neos following an MOU signed in August (ATW Daily News, Aug. 17). The first delivery is scheduled for 2017. The carrier has not yet announced an engine selection between CFM International's Leap-X and Pratt & Whitney's PW1100G.

Boeing and Lufthansa (LH) will conduct pre-delivery testing on a 747-8 Intercontinental set to arrive at the carrier's Frankfurt (FRA) base Tuesday before returning Friday to Seattle.

Boeing on Thursday opened its new Interiors Fabrication facility in North Charleston, S.C. The Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina team will manufacture 787 interior parts including stowbins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stowbins used by flight attendants, overhead rests for flight-crews and flight attendants, video control stations and attendant modules for Boeing South Carolina.

Airbus predicted that by 2030 the US and Canada will require 6,315 new passenger and freighter aircraft—above 100 seats—worth $648 billion.

GE Aviation’s GEnx-1B engine, which powers the Boeing 787, has been given FAA 330-minute extended-range, twin-engine operations (ETOPS) approval. The FAA approval confirms the engine has demonstrated the reliability to conduct ETOPS flights up to 330 minutes flying time from a primary or alternate airport, GE said. The approval process included a 3,000-cycle ground endurance test in April. The first GEnx-2B-powered Boeing 747-8 was delivered to Cargolux in October. Five more GEnx-2B-powered Boeing 747-8s have since been delivered.

Airbus has completed the first flight of its fuel-saving sharklet wing-tip devices on the company’s A320 development aircraft (MSN 001). The flight marks the start of flight testing to capture data for fine-tuning the flight laws, as well as for certification and performance validation.