It would appear as though delivery of British Airways' first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner has been delayed. The aircraft was due to be delivered in January. However, this is yet to happen. In fact, according to the British Airways booking engine, the first flight to Atlanta with the new aircraft will now take place on March 10th.

With the delivery of the Boeing 787-10, British Airways will become the latest airline to operate all three members of the 787 family. However, It seems like this achievement may be slightly delayed, as the end of January approaches, and the aircraft still hasn't been delivered.

What do we know?

Firstly, we know that, according to the British Airways booking engine, the aircraft's entry had been delayed. Unfortunately, it is necessary to look at seat maps as the aircraft type isn't differentiated between the three types of 787. However, the new 787-10 will have British Airways' new Club Suite Cabin.

The new 1-2-1 seat map had been shown from the 25th of February, but this has now changed to the 10th of March. Of course, these things are always subject to change, so could move again as we get closer to the date.

First flight delay

According to B787register.co.uk, the first flight of the Boeing 787-10 registered as G-ZBLN was delayed by over a week. It had been due to take place on the 9th of January, however, this was canceled due to unknown reasons. The aircraft eventually took flight on the 17th of January. It is unclear if it has taken further flights since.

A British Airways spokesperson was unable to confirm that the delivery has been delayed, but did tell Simple Flying,

"Taking delivery of a new aircraft is complex and it isn’t uncommon in the industry for timelines to slip. Our 787-10 aircraft is part of our fleet investment and is one of a number of more fuel-efficient aircraft that we have on order. These aircraft are between 25 to 40 per cent more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace."

Not the first new type delay

It would seem that this is not the first delay that British Airways has experienced when taking delivery of a new type according to the Financial Times. The airline's first Boeing 787 faced a delay of three years, due to modifications that had to be made to the aircraft's battery system.

Additionally, the publication reports that the first Airbus A380 delivery was delayed by over a year. This was due to a general delay in the A380 program. However, it should be stressed that British Airways is highly unlikely to be behind the delay to the aircraft's delivery. In fact, until Boeing says the aircraft is ready, the airline can't do much but wait.

What do you make of the delay to the first British Airways Boeing 787-10? Let us know in the comments.