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Five years after the Boeing 787 entered service, the 500th customer Dreamliner, 787-9 F-HRBA (c/n 38769), was delivered to Air France on December 2. The aircraft is the first 787 for the French flag carrier and the 50th for the lessor AerCap. The Air France-KLM Group has ordered 18 787-9s and seven 787- 10s, with an additional 12 787-9s to be leased through AerCap.
In other 787 developments, Boeing South Carolina has started final assembly work on the first 787-10 following the delivery of the midbody and aft fuselage barrels to the plant at North Charleston. This first example of the third Dreamliner variant will fly in 2017, with the initial customer delivery in 2018. Mark Broadbent
