The Boeing Company has announced a six-month delay in its planned delivery of the first 787 Dreamliners, pushing back the date to late November or December 2008 over assembly problems. The original deadline was May 2008.
Aeroflot, Russia's leading air carrier, is scheduled to receive its first Dreamliner delivery in 2014. The entire delivery of 22 long-range liners is due to be completed by the end of September 2016.
"We have received notification from Boeing Co that the delay will not affect plans for the jets' delivery to Aeroflot," Viktor Sokolov, the company's spokesman said on Thursday.
The contract for the purchase of two different types of Boeing 787, with 248 seats and 290 seats, is worth $3.6 billion in total.
The deal was approved by the Aeroflot board of directors on June 20, and by the company shareholders on September 5, 2007.
An S7 Airlines (formerly Sibir) spokesman also said that the six-month delay would not affect the company's $2.4 billion contract with Boeing Co, signed in May 2007, as the delivery of 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets is planned for 2014. The airline has also taken an option to buy another 10 of these jets.
Aeroflot shares grew at MICEX (Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange) to 76.3 rubles, an increase of 0.13% on Thursday.
Boeing shares, however, quickly tumbled and shed $2.77, or 2.7%, to $98.68 by the day's end in heavy trading on Wednesday, when the delay was first announced.
Another major aircraft builder, Airbus, has not recovered from problems over the introduction of its A380 jet, delivered two years later than scheduled. The problems caused many Airbus orders to be redirected to Boeing.
However, experts believe Boeing will be able to ride out any problems associated with the delay in the delivery of the first Dreamliners, as the company has 710 orders worth $110 billion from 50 customers and has already sold out the planned production of future planes through late 2013.
