First Look: KLM's First 787-9 Dreamliner

First Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines(KLM) today emerged from the final assembly line at Paine Field, Everett.

The Dutch carrier published a photo of its first 787-9 Dreamliner via its official Twitter account on Aug. 31, saying "Work in progress: our first Boeing 787-9!"

The 787-9, Registration PH-BHA, is still in the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington, with only tail being painted in KLM colors. In the coming days, the Dreamliner will have its roll-out, livery painting, final outfitting and testing. It is expected to be delivered and fly to Schiphol in mid-October.

Abu Dhabi and Bahrain will be the first KLM destinations to be served with the 787-9 from October 25, followed by Cairo in November. From December, KLM will operate the 787-9 to Quito, Guayaquil and Xiamen. The stretched Dreamliner will be finally deployed on Amsterdam-Chengdu on March 27, 2016.

The 787-9 will be configured with 294 seats in a three-class layout - 30 lie-flat seats in World Business class in rows of 1-8, 48 seats in Economy Comfort zone, arranged 3-3-3 from rows 10 through 16, and 216 Economy seats also stacked 3-3-3 from rows 17 through 44.

KLM currently has 21 787s on order, of which 15 will be of the 787-9 type and 6 of the larger 787-10 type. The first two of KLM's 787-9s will be delivered in 2015, with approximately eight or nine joining the fleet in 2016. The remaining aircraft of the current order are scheduled to be delivered in the years after that, with the first 787-10 joining the fleet in 2020.