In July, China's HNA Aviation Group will welcome a shiny new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to its fleet. 

This plane is special because it is the first 787 Dreamliner to be built purely as a private jet.

HNA's new Dreamliner is symbolic of a hot new trend in private and corporate aviation — long-range, mid-size, wide-body airliners.

"It's an emerging market that didn't really exist in the past," Kestrel Aviation Management CEO Stephen Vella told Business Insider. Kestrel oversaw the design, engineering, and fabrication of HNA's new Dreamliner which has an estimated total cost topping $300 million.

Airbus and Boeing have long offered versions of its airliners to private customers under their Airbus Corporate Jet and Boeing Business Jet programs. However, buyers of these airliner-based private jets have long gravitated to either four-engine, jumbo jets like the Boeing 747 or smaller, narrow-body jets such as the Airbus A320.

"The market is traditionally separated into two buckets," Vella said. "The big Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s primarily catered to heads of state while the smaller Airbus A320 and Boeing 737s are popular corporate runabouts as well as secondary planes in government fleets."

Although twin-engine, mid-size, wide-body jets such as the Boeing 767 and the Airbus A330 have long been available, they never quite caught on with the private jet crowd.

However, in recently years, ultra high-end private jet customers have become increasingly interested in the new generation mid-size, wide-body planes such as the Dreamliner and Airbus A350.

What's changed?

According to Vella, several factors led to the shift. 

First, leading business men and heads of state are generally pressed for time. As a result, they prefer be to able to fly anywhere they need to go non-stop. Until recently, this simply wasn't possible in a twin-engined jet. The traditional thinking in the aviation dictates that there's safety in the number of engines a plane has.

Regulating bodies such as the US Federal Aviation Administration have even placed limits on which ultra-long-range intercontinental routes twin-engine jets can fly. As a result, government and corporate clients looking for a plane with the range and capability to go anywhere in the world had to turn to four-engined jumbos.

However, with the incredible reliability of modern turbofan engines, the regulatory limitations on twin-engined jets have essentially been wiped out. Now, planes such as the A350 and the 787 can fly anywhere the owner requires, but in a slightly smaller and more affordable package. For instance, HNA's new state-of-the-art composite Boeing has a range of 9,800 miles even when packed with passengers, luggage, and fuel. A similarly outfitted A350 ACJ will be able to delivery that type of performance as well. 

"You can fly between virtually any two points on the globe," Vella said of the Dreamliner.

Secondly, the price of crude oil has fallen dramatically over the past two years. Even though cheaper fuel makes buying and operating a thirsty, four-engined, jumbo jet much more attractive, low crude prices have also cut dramatically into the income of Middle Eastern governments. Unfortunately for the 747 BBJ, they are also some of the plane's biggest customers.

According to Vella, all major Middle Eastern governments such as Saudi Arabia, operate large royal fleets, many of which are jumbo jets, for elite members of the ruling family and officials to use.

Over the next decade or so, these fleets with need to be updated. Vella, whose company has bought and sold more than $50 billion worth of commercial and private jets, believes the Middle Eastern clientele are ready to do some belt-tightening and downsize to smaller planes.

Finally, another factor that has benefited the Dreamliner-sized jet is the increasing public sensitivity towards political largess. Unlike the US, where the plane that operates as Air Force One is held in high esteem and seen as a symbol of national power, the public in many countries view a large presidential aircraft as a sign of political over indulgence.

According to Vella, this is a particularly sensitive issue in Europe. However, a smaller aircraft with the performance capabilities of a jumbo, but in a less attention-getting package is a reasonable alternative.

"The mid-size jets have less ramp presence," Vella said. "They offer the owner much more discretion."

After all, it's hard to arrive discretely in a jumbo jet no matter where you go. Even at the world's busiest international airports, an aircraft the size of a 747 or Airbus A380 is conspicuous.

But all of this requires some perspective. Even the "smaller" 787 BBJ is still an absolutely massive aircraft. At 186 ft. long, even Donald Trump's converted Boeing 757 is dwarfed by the new Dreamliner. And with 2,400 sq. ft. of living space, it offers the same amount of room as an average American suburban home.

What's coming

According to the long-time aviation executive, over the next 15-20 years, demand from just the Middle East for Boeing 787-sized private jets will top 30 aircraft. That may not sound like many planes, but at more than $300 million a pop, that's about $10 billion in business from just a handful of customers.

In fact, Vella believes demand from East Asia will be just as intense over that period of time.

"Because of the high number of long distance and (trans-oceanic) flights the customers make, these are the perfect planes for Asia," Vella added.

Whether the market for these mid-size, twin-engine wide-body private jets actually skyrockets remain to be seen. But with the unprecedented level of advanced technology, luxury, and performance it can offer, they are an undeniably attractive option for the right buyer.

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In what is becoming an annual tradition, Boeing's intrepid team of test pilots are back with another stunning aerobatic stunt video staring the company's 787 Dreamliner. 

Released on Thursday, the latest video shows Boeing test pilots Capt. Randy Neville, Capt. Van Chaney, and Capt. John Misuradze putting an All Nippon Airways 787-9 through its paces over Moses Lake, Washington. 

The routine, which pushes the plane far beyond its normal operating conditions, is a practice run for a performance at next week's Farnborough Airshow.

The flight performance is similar to the ones Boeing put on at the Paris Air Show last year and the Farnborough show in 2014. 

The major highlights of the demonstration are the near vertical take off — which is more commonly performed by high-performance fighter jets — and a touch-and-go landing then takeoff. 

Although the technical demonstration will surely wow the air show crowds, it's almost designed to show off the $265 million 787-9 performance and capabilities to prospective buyers. Farnborough is traditionally a hotbed for major deals involving Airbus, Boeing and their many customers.

The 2016 Farnborough International Airshow runs from July 11-17 in Farnborough, England. 

Check out the full video here:

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This incredible video of a Boeing 787 performing a near-vertical takeoff and pulling banking maneuvers that no passenger would want to experience is not some sort of CGI animation. This is a full-fledged jumbo jet that is going through a practice run for the Farnborough Airshow. 

The All Nippon Airways 787 is piloted by Boeing test pilots Captain Randy Neville, Captain Van Chaney, and Captain John Misuradze. Similar moves can be found in the Boeing performance prepared for the 2015 Paris Air Show.

Produced by Justin Gmoser

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Norwegian Air has been named the best low-cost airline in Europe for the fourth consecutive year by the leading consumer-aviation website Skytrax.

The airline also took home the prize for best long-haul low-cost airline in the world.

Norwegian was presented with the awards at a ceremony on Tuesday at the 2016 Farnborough Airshow.

"We believe that not only should air travel be affordable to all but also that low cost can still mean high quality," Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos said in a statement.

"These awards give us huge momentum as we continue our ambitious expansion plans in Europe, the US, and beyond."

Norwegian is certainly making its presence felt.

The expansion of the company's Norwegian Air International subsidiary into the US has ruffled feathers. It's a potentially industry-changing move that US airlines and unions have vigorously opposed.

The US airlines are objecting on the grounds that NAI could exploit foreign labor laws, but in truth they should be worried about the kind of international network the carrier is attempting to create.

In April the US Department of Transportation tentatively approved the Irish — yes, Irish — airline's application to fly into the US.

You may be wondering why an airline called "Norwegian" would be based in Ireland. That's the root of the issue.

NAI is one of several subsidiaries operating under the Norwegian banner. Unlike the rest of the company, including Norwegian Air Shuttle, NAI is based in Dublin instead of in Norway.

This, critics say, allows NAI to take advantage of Ireland's employment laws, which are significantly less stringent than Norway's. As a result, they say, NAI could hire lower-cost pilots and crew members from Asia to fly transatlantic routes. (The company says its current service to the US is operated by NAS with Europe-based crews.)

AFL-CIO Transportation president Edward Wytkind referred to the DOT's decision as one to "green-light this low-road air carrier whose operating plan will destroy fair competition and extinguish middle-class airline jobs here and in Europe."

But NAI says none of its Asia-based crews will operate flights into and out of the US. Further, the pay differential between the airline's Asia- and Europe-based pilots is roughly 1%, Norwegian Air spokesman Anders Lindstrom told Business Insider.

And all this complaining about NAI is happening even though it is tiny, with a fleet of just 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The major US airlines and their European alliance partners have more than 1,000 wide-body long-haul jets at their disposal and are responsible for more than 80% of the traffic across the Atlantic.

Here's why Norwegian is scary

Here's the real problem for US airlines: Norwegian is going to expand rapidly and in a way that eats at the foundation of the hub-based system that major US airlines depend on for survival.

How? By offering direct flights to smaller cities in the US from underserved cities in Northern Europe.

In practice, this means passengers in Hartford, Connecticut, or Providence, Rhode Island, no longer have to fly to Boston or New York for an international trip. Instead, for a far lower cost than a US carrier, they might fly NAI to Oslo, Norway; Stockholm; or Hamburg, Germany. Later this year, Norwegian is launching service to Paris from New York, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale.

This kind of setup not only undercuts US airlines' international business; it could also threaten their domestic operation.

But there's more

With its base in European Union-member Ireland, NAI will also be able to use its hubs in Europe as transit points for passengers traveling into and out of Asia and Europe to the US. As a result, NAI will be able to tap into the lucrative US-to-South Asia market over which US, European, and Middle Eastern airlines have fought for the past decade.

The presence of Norwegian and its low-cost model could provide competitive pressure on legacy carriers for value-minded travelers the same way Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar have for premium-cabin clients.

In fact, NAI could be the airline to disrupt the transatlantic long-haul business the same way other low-cost carriers have transformed the European airline industry. In Norwegian's home market, it has forced its local rival SAS to revamp the way the 70-year-old airline does business.

"We have made significant transformative changes to stay competitive and to survive,"SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson told Business Insider in March. "We have cut overhead costs, adjusted pensions and union contracts."

NAI's weapon in all this will be narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the Airbus A320neo. The company has orders for as many as 350 of these aircraft in place.

While transatlantic service has traditionally been operated using large wide-body jumbo jets, the narrow-body jets are cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. The first of the 737 Max aircraft are expected to enter service in 2017, while Norwegian is expected to see its first A320neos later this year.

Norwegian won't be able to reach the US legacy carriers' bread-and-butter customer: the high-end business traveler. Major US airlines depend these high-value clients, who fly often and pay full-business or first-class prices, to generate the revenue they need to stay afloat.

Norwegian's low-cost premium cabin on its Dreamliners may attract some of these customers, but it is unlikely to sway high-end corporate clients.

But based on how Norwegian has shaken up the airline industry in its homeland, US carriers should be wary of the disruptive power of this airline.

One final detail: According to Norwegian's CEO, the target price of admission for one of his airline's flight across the Atlantic is $69.

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The final reminders of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's turbulent early days will soon be gone.

For more than a half decade, a fleet of early-production Dreamliners dubbed the "terrible teens" have been in limbo, waiting for a buyer to put them into service.

They're called the "terrible teens" because many of the nonconforming aircraft were between the 10th and 20th Dreamliners built.

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal's Steve Wilhelm, as of a recent Boeing's investors conference in May, the company still had an inventory of 12 "terrible teen" planes.

But Boeing executives confirmed to Business Insider on Wednesday that all of "teens" have been sold and will be delivered over the next two years.

Boeing declined to reveal who picked up the last of them.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is one of the most advanced commercial aircraft ever built. That's saying a lot when you consider that the company conjured up the game-changing 747 jumbo jet in 16 months.

Unfortunately for Boeing, the 787 program was beset by technical problems that delayed the debut of the plane by more than three years. The "terrible teens" were some of the first Dreamliners to roll off of Boeing's production line at a time when the company had not quite completed the development process of the plane.

As a result, these planes require significant modifications, including heavy structural reinforcement that make the "teens" much heavier than the current versions of the 787.

Some estimate that the modifications needed to make the "teens" serviceable as commercial airliners would cut as much as 1,150 miles off the Dreamliner's advertised range of 8,500 miles. That's not good when your plane's greatest selling point is its fuel economy and range.

Even with range limitations, the performance of the "teens" has been good enough for some airline customers. Ethiopian Airlines and Air Austral are just two of the carriers that have bought the "terrible teens" airplanes.

That said, it's almost certain that the airlines received massive discounts on the 787-8's $224 million sticker price.

At the same time, many of the "teens" have been funneled into ultra-high-end executive-jet duty because such customers are generally less demanding in terms of fuel burn, range, and unit revenue.

The state-0f-the-art Dreamliner first flew in 2009 and entered commercial service with launch customer All Nippon Airways in 2011. Even though the plane was grounded by federal regulators in 2013 because of a series of fires in its lithium-ion battery pack, the Dreamliner has managed to overcome many of its teething troubles.

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During the development of the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing encountered countless engineering hurdles.

One of which was the decision to build much of the plane out of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics and other composite materials instead of the aluminum most commonly used on commercial airliners.

While the engineering of the composite airframe may have been a challenge, it's a decision that allowed Boeing to make a major change to its aircraft that could greatly reduce the effect of jet lag on its passengers.

"The Dreamliner has a composite fuselage and that allowed us to pressurize it at whatever altitude we wanted because the material is not as susceptible to fatigue," Blake Emery, director of differentiation strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told Business Insider in an interview.

Currently, most airliners have cabin air pressure equivalent to that of an altitude of 8,000 feet. For the Dreamliner, Boeing cut that down to 6,000 feet.

"To lower the cabin altitude, we actually increased the air pressure inside the cabin," Emery added. "It's a bit counterintuitive for most people."

Why does air pressure matter to passengers?

For most of us, a long flight is usually followed by some combination of symptoms that include headaches, lack of appetite, lack of energy, nausea, and sleeplessness.

All of these afflictions have been conveniently bundled together with a disruption of one's internal body clock to form something we call jet lag.

But the reality is that jet lag is far more serious.

The very symptoms we attribute to jet lag may actually be attributed to acute mountain sickness, which affects individuals exposed to altitudes above 6,500 feet.

In a study conducted by Oklahoma State University with the help of Boeing, researchers wrote:

"Some passengers on long commercial flights experience discomfort characterized by symptoms similar to those of acute mountain sickness. The symptoms are often attributed to factors such as jet lag, prolonged sitting, dehydration, or contamination of cabin air. However, because barometric pressures in aircraft cabins are similar to those at the terrestrial altitudes at which acute mountain sickness occurs, it is possible that some of the symptoms are related to the decreased partial pressure of oxygen and are manifestations of acute mountain sickness."

The study found that passengers who go from sea level up to 8,000 feet of altitude saw the oxygen content in their blood fall 4%. Although this didn't trigger full on acute mountain sickness, it did bring on what the study called "increased prevalence of discomfort after three to nine hours" of exposure.

"The research showed passengers' bodies reacted at 6,000 feet similar to that at sea level," Emery said. "So we decided to pressurize the Dreamliner at 6,000 feet."

At 6,000 feet, the cabin air is more dense and has a greater level of oxygen saturation. As result, the body does not have to work as hard to oxygenate blood and sustain itself.

According to Emery, since there isn't a perfect one-to-one correlation between altitude and jet lag, Boeing has taken additional measures to mitigate the symptoms. These measures include an increase in cabin humidity as well as a new air-filtration system.

Why haven't we had this all along?

The Dreamliner won't be the only Boeing jet to have a have a lower cabin altitude. The company's upcoming 777X wide-body mini-jumbo jet will also be pressurized at 6,000 feet.

However, unlike the composite Dreamliner, the 777X, Boeing's successor to landmark 777, will be primarily made of aluminum.

"Aluminum aircraft can be pressurized to 6,000 feet," Kent Craver, Boeing Commercial Airplanes regional director of passenger satisfaction, told Business Insider in an interview. "In fact, most business jets are already pressurized to that level."

In addition, Airbus is also working to lower the cabin altitude on its next generation of airliners.

Airplane makers have traditionally avoided lowering the cabin altitude because boosting the air pressure inside the cabin puts greater stress on aluminum airframes. This increases the likelihood of metal fatigue and shortens the service life of the airplane.

However, Boeing believes it can successfully lower cabin altitude on the 777X without going to a composite body.

"We know the 777 fuselage, its structural qualities, and its fatigue margins really well," a Boeing spokesperson told us in an email. "We also understand the requirements of the lower cabin altitude in terms of cycles and pressures on the fuselage. As a result, we can achieve it with a few local reinforcements and change those loads out to accommodate lower cabin altitude."

The Boeing 777X is set to enter service in 2019.

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On Wednesday, Delta Air Lines announced that it has reached an agreement with Boeing to cancel an order for 18 787 Dreamliners.

The order, worth roughly $4 billion at current list prices, was placed by Northwest Airlines prior to its 2008 merger with Delta.

"Delta is one of the world’s largest operators of Boeing aircraft and our valued partnership with Boeing will remain strong as we safely and comfortably serve our customers across the world every day," Delta senior vice president for supply chain management and fleet Greg May said in a statement.

"This business decision is consistent with Delta’s fleet strategy to prudently address our wide-body aircraft needs."

In an email to Business Insider, a Boeing spokesperson wrote:

"We've been working closely with Delta as their needs have evolved since inheriting the order from Northwest. Delta is a valued customer and we continue working with them to meet their future fleet requirements."

While the vast majority of Delta's 800-plus aircraft are Boeing-made, the future of the airline's long-haul wide-body fleet leans heavily toward Airbus. Over the past three years, Delta has ordered no less than 60 A350-900, A330neo, and A330-300 wide-body jets from Airbus.

While Boeing hasn't landed any new wide-body orders from Delta, the Seattle-based planemaker does boast an order for 120 737-900ER narrow-body jets from the carrier.

Prior to its cancellation, Delta pushed back deliveries of the Dreamliner order to beyond 2020. Even with the Delta cancellation, Boeing still boasts a healthy backlog of more than 700 Dreamliners.

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Airbus and Boeing debuted new airliners on Friday.

The Boeing 787-10 took off for the first time from the company's North Charleston, South Carolina, facility just after 9:30 a.m. for a four-hour test flight.

Earlier in the day, the Airbus A319neo also made its maiden test flight from the company's factory in Hamburg, Germany, to its headquarters in Toulouse, France.

The newest 787 is the largest member of Boeing's state-of-the-art Dreamliner family, with room for 330 passengers in a two-class layout. The Dash 10 can hold 14% more seats and carry 15% more cargo than the current 787-9.

"I want to say thanks to the team," Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said on a webcast of the flight. "This is a big, big milestone for us and our customers."

With a range of 7,400 miles, the 787-10 is designed to make ultra-long-haul flights while delivering 25% better fuel economy than other airliners its size. The plane, which was unveiled in February in a ceremony featuring President Donald Trump, has been touted as a possible replacement for older versions of Boeing's game-changing 777-200ER.

Boeing has taken 149 orders for the aircraft, which has a list price of $312.8 million. The 787-10's largest customers are Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines — each has 30 on order.

According to Airbus, the A319neo's maiden flight was used to assess the aircraft's general handling characteristics and the functionality of its main systems. Although the flight took off from Hamburg, the A319neo prototype's test program will be based in Toulouse.

The A319neo is the smallest member of Airbus' next-generation neo — new engine option — series of airliners. Based on the A320neo that's in service, the A319neo has room for 160 passengers and is designed for short or medium-range flights.

In addition, the smaller Airbus will specialize in flights into or out of airports with tough operating conditions such as high altitude, high heat, or short runways.

Airbus has 55 orders for the $99.5 million jet. Its largest customers are Frontier Airlines and Colombia's Avianca.

Earlier this week, Embraer's new E195-E2 airliner also made its maiden flight. The next-generation E2 took off from Embraer's facility in São José dos Campos, Brazil, for a two-hour test flight.

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Next March, Qantas will inaugurate its new non-stop flight from Perth, Western Australia to London. The first ever non-stop scheduled flight between Europe and Australia.

"When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement during the flight's announcement last December. "Now it will take just 17 hours from Perth non-stop."

In fact, the 9,008 mile-long flight will be the third longest scheduled commercial flight in the world, right after Air India's 9,400-mile flight from Delhi to San Francisco and Qatar Airways' 9,032-mile flight from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand.

The Perth to London route will overtake the airline's 8,531-mile non-stop flight between Sydney and Dallas, Texas. That flight is operated by Airbus A380 superjumbos. 

Last week, Boeing rolled out the new plane Qantas will use to operate the Perth to London flight, a 787-9 Dreamliner. It's one of eight Dreamliners Qantas has on order. 

The Sydney-based airline is expected to take delivery of the plane on October 16 before it enters service in December on Qantas' flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles. 

Here's a closer look at Qantas' shiny new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. 

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The Qantas' first 787-9 Dreamliner recently rolled out of the Boeing's paint hangar in Everett, Washington.

For the new Dreamliner, Qantas updated its famous Flying Kangaroo livery.

In total, it took Boeing 250 liters of paint and more than four days to apply to the new livery.

• Boeing's Everett, Washington facility is one of the largest buildings in the world.
• It's where Boeing builds the 747, 767, 777, and 787 Dreamliner.
• Business Insider took a tour of the 777 and 787 production lines in October.

The Boeing 777 and the 787 Dreamliner are two of hottest selling wide-body airliners in the world. The dynamic duo has effectively supplanted the iconic 747 jumbo jet as the Boeing's go-to plane for long-haul flying.

At Boeing's Everett, Washington fact0ry, the two are also built side-by-side. Everett isn't Boeing's only factory. The 737 is built nearby in Renton, Washington while the 787-10 is produced exclusively in North Charleston, South Carolina.

But, Everett remains Boeing's most famous and storied production facility. According to Boeing, its Everett facility is large enough to encompass "all of Disneyland with 12 acres left over for parking."

In October, Boeing gave Business Insider a tour of the 777 and 787 production lines ahead of the delivery of the first Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner.

Here's an inside look at Boeing's Everett, Washington factory.

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Good morning Seattle! Time to hop on the bus to Everett, Washington.

From afar, the Boeing factory doesn't seem too big

Up close, the sheer scale of the factory becomes evident.

• Norwegian just broke a record for fastest subsonic commercial transatlantic flight.
• Its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flew from New York JFK to London Gatwick in 5 hours 13 minutes.
• The record came one day after another pilot completed the same flight in 5 hours 20 minutes.

Norwegian — the low-cost airline that has made headlines for launching the world's longest low-cost flight— is making headlines again.

A Norwegian Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departing from New York JFK reached London Gatwick in 5 hours 13 minutes on Monday — the fastest subsonic transatlantic flight recorded on a commercial aircraft. It beat the previous record of 5 hours 16 minutes.

There were 284 passengers on board, who, after leaving New York at 11.44 a.m. ET, were probably pretty happy to arrive in London at 9.57 p.m. GMT — 53 minutes ahead of schedule. Strong tailwinds over the Atlantic Ocean pushed the aircraft to a top speed of 776 mph during the flight.

Though impressive, the flight time was nowhere near rivaling transatlantic crossings made by Concorde when the supersonic aircraft was in service. The fastest Concorde flight from New York to London happened on February 7, 1996, when it crossed the pond in just shy of 2 hours 53 minutes, according to British Airways.

The Norwegian captain, Harold van Dam (pictured below), said: "We were actually in the air for just over five hours and if it had not been for forecasted turbulence at lower altitude, we could have flown even faster."

He added: "The 787 Dreamliner is a pleasure to fly and it’s a great feeling to know that we have set a new record in this aircraft."

The airline uses that same aircraft on its two daily flights between London and New York. The day before, Gatwick-based captain Pascal Niewold recorded his fastest-ever transatlantic flight: New York to London in 5 hours 20 minutes.

Niewold said: "The passengers and crew were very pleasantly surprised that we were already landing in London. It was a very smooth flight with almost no turbulence and as a result of the jet stream we arrived 25 minutes early."

SEE ALSO: Norwegian has launched the world's longest low-cost flight — and it'll get you to Singapore for less than £150

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It’s the pointy end of a spiffy new jet that piques the interest of most pilots. There’s no denying that the 787 has a great-looking cockpit and some fascinating systems architecture. I can’t imagine there’s a pilot out there who wouldn’t want to fly one.

However, I figure the various aviation magazines and websites have the jet’s gizmos and plumbing well-enough covered.  (Plus, I’m protesting the glacially slow progress of cockpit ergonomics.  It’s been how many years, and we still don’t have an FMS or ACARS interface with a QWERTY keyboard?)

So, instead, here’s a critique of the 787 from a passenger’s point of view.  A few weeks ago I was fortunate to catch a ride from Boston to Tokyo-Narita on one of Japan Airlines newly delivered ships.

JAL’s BOS-NRT flights were launched last spring; the first-ever nonstop service between Boston and Asia, and the first scheduled 787 service anywhere in North America.  (United has since taken delivery of its first of several 787s, and Ethiopian Airlines will soon launch the plane on its popular route between Washington-Dulles and Addis Ababa.)

Some impressions…

First, the airport. Call me a hometown cheerleader (I grew up in the Boston area and live there still), but Boston-Logan has to be the one of the most underrated airports in the country. It wasn’t always this way, but following a decade of major renovations, including an expanded Terminal E and the construction of Delta’s Terminal A, Logan has emerged as one of the most modern and functional major airports in North America.  It’s clean, bright, easy to navigate, and who doesn’t love the inter-terminal connector walkways, with their harbor and skyline views, and inlay sea-life mosaics?

JAL’s flight 007 leaves from Terminal E.   When I was a kid, this was called the “John A. Volpe International Terminal,” named after the former Massachusetts governor.  Then, as now, it is the only terminal at the airport with customs and immigration facilities, and it is home to all of Logan’s overseas carriers. Though not exclusively: the cluster of gates at the eastern tip, once the home of Braniff and later Northwest, are today used by AirTran and Southwest.

The building has doubled in size.  The check-in hall is entirely new and arguably the airport’s handsomest spot.  The spacious, wood-panel interior is softly lit and, unlike most US airports, blissfully quiet — free of the incessant PA announcements and infernal CNN monitors that plague most of America’s terminals.  Passing the TSA checkpoint one enters the building’s older section, which is more or less as I remember it from years ago, with lots of gray aluminum and segmented windows staring towards Revere.  Flight 007 left from gate 8, at the far western end.

Somehow the JAL staff managed to begin boarding a fairly full, 13-hour flight only 25 minutes prior to departure, and actually pushed back early.  There wasn’t even a bottleneck in the jetway.  I was in 23A, a window seat in the second row of economy.

The 787 isn’t as large as other long-haul widebodies. I was a surprised by the stubbiness of the cabin.  In terms of range and capacity, the plane falls between the 767 and 777.  But it feels a lot closer to the former, albeit with 777-style overhead bins and a bevy of new accouterments.

Though it can hold up to 300 passengers, JAL uses a roomy, two-class layout, with extended legroom in economy, for a total of only 186 seats — about 20 fewer than the average 767.

The sidewalls and consoles are sculpted in that rounded, organic, vaguely futuristic style that reminds me of the caves of Turkish Cappadocia (think of Eero Saarinen’s landmark TWA terminal at JFK).  The mid-cabin lavatory is big enough to hold a party in — with cool blue moodlighting to boot.

JAL’s Recaro economy chairs have generous legroom,11-inch video screens (Ethiopian’s are 15 inches!) cup holders, coat hooks, AC power ports and a USB connection.

Despite these goodies, I wondered how many of the passengers had any idea they were riding on the world’s newest and most sophisticated jetliner. It’s different, but it’s not that different.

If one thing gives it away, it’s the windows. The 787’s cabin windows are a good 40 percent bigger than normal. They’re of equal width, but almost double the height of typical windows. These skinny ovals are perhaps the most distinctively shaped cabin windows since those of the DC-8 or the Caravelle, 45 years ago.

Instead of a traditional draw-down shade, the glass is tinted electronically, with a push-button.  It never fully opaques, and at full tint the effect is a bit like being under water: you can make out certain details, but most of the color and sunlight are filtered away. The world is rendered in a leaden bluish-gray, similar to the way things look under a very bright full moon.

It’s a nice idea in that you always have a view. Unfortunately, in direct sun, much of the heat still leeches through, even at maximum tint.  My window pane became painfully hot to the touch, and the radiant heat grew uncomfortable.  At one point I stuck one of the seat-pocket briefing cards into the frame to help stay cool.  When a flight attendant saw this, she came over and gave me a black, self-stick window blotter.  Apparently I’m not the only one to find this bothersome.

In addition, the tinting is not instantaneous.  When the plane banks and suddenly you’ve got the sun bearing down on you, it takes several seconds for the glass to go dark.

All Nippon Airways, the launch customer of the 787, has reportedly complained to Boeing about the heat issue and malfunctioning of the tinting mechanisms. The electronic system struck me as a novelty – technology for the sake of itself — and something that, in the end, isn’t as useful or reliable as the good old manual version.

On the brighter side, as it were, the 787’s cabin is whisper-quiet thanks to advanced insulation and an active noise reduction system.  This makes long flights less fatiguing, saves battery life on your iPod, and makes it easier to hear the movies.  It also amplifies the conversations of your neighbors and the wails of nearby children.

The pressurization and air recirculation systems, meanwhile, are designed to maintain higher humidity levels and lower cabin altitudes than are customary.  (The plane’s composite construction ensures that moisture levels won’t be corrosive.)  These are welcome changes, but after landing at Narita I’m not sure that I felt any less weary or dehydrated than I normally do after a 13-hour journey.

JAL’s onboard service was very good overall, if not quite on the level of other leading airlines from Asia, Europe, or the Middle East.  There were two hot meals and a snack service.  During the in-between hours, a buffet was set up in the mid and rear galleys with snacks and bottled water.  The lavatories were stocked with toothbrushes and other amenities.

One thing that JAL and most other foreign airlines understand better than their US counterparts, is that service is a continuous thing.  Whether it’s premium or economy class, you don’t hand out a meal and then go hide for seven hours.  JAL’s flight attendants made continuous rounds, serving beverages, collecting trash, etc.

There were two hot towel services: one after takeoff and a second one about an hour before landing.  Yes, in economy.

One complaint is that JAL’s inflight entertainment options could use an upgrade.  That big video screen is only useful if there’s something worth watching.  Delta offers a far better choice of movies and TV, even in economy.  Also, the video handset controls are inset into the armrests in such a way that your elbow digs painfully into the well.

But if you ask me, the coolest thing about JAL’s 787 isn’t on the inside, but on the outside.  I’m talking about the airline’s reintroduction of the tsurumaru, the circular red-and-white logo used since 1960.  Possibly the most elegant airline logo ever conceived, it’s a stylized depiction of the crane, lifting its wings into the circular suggestion of the Japanese rising sun.  Beginning in 2002 this ageless symbol was phased out in what had to be the most regrettable makeover in the history of airline identity, replaced by a “rising splotch” – a blood-red blob that evoked pretty much nothing at all.  It was a terrible decision on aesthetic merits alone, and still worse considering the crane’s cultural importance in Japan.  Apparently enough people complained, however, and the tsurumaru has since been resurrected.

Similar to the A380, the lines of the 787 give it a somewhat anthropomorphic profile.  But while the A380 looks like a steroidal beluga, the 787 is a sleeker species. The tail is awkwardly undersized, but those scalloped engine nacelles (for noise reduction; similar to those on the new 747-8) and sharply tapered wingtips are definitely cool.

As for the name, kudos to Boeing for sticking with the numerical sequencing that began 60 years ago with the 707.  However, I’m not especially fond of the “Dreamliner” designation.  Somehow the imagery there is a little too wobbly and ethereal.  People don’t want their planes (or their pilots) nodding off.

It could have been worse.  Initially, before Boeing had settled on a name, Dreamliner was in contention with three other possibilities.  They were: Global Cruiser, Stratoclimber, and eLiner.  Global Cruiser sounds like a yacht, or a really big SUV.  Stratoclimber sounds like an action hero, and eLiner is almost too awful to contemplate — sort of like “iPlane.”

If you haven’t caught a glimpse of the 787 yet, you will soon.  Boeing’s order book stands at more than 800.

SEE ALSO: AirAsia Crash: Flying Into A Thunderstorm Is The Biggest No-No In Commercial Aviation

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As the seventh installment of the "Star Wars" saga nears its release, the "Star Wars" media frenzy is reaching fever pitch. This week, Japan's All Nippon Airways released a video featuring this awesome Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fully decked out in an R2-D2 paint job.

According to the airline, the R2-D2 jet is part of a 5-year long promotional campaign connected to "Star Wars." The R2-D2 787-9 is scheduled to join ANA's international fleet this fall and will be one of more than 30 Dreamliners in the airline's fleet.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will hit theaters this December.

Check out the full video, featuring the ANA Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner:

SEE ALSO: The 15 Coolest Airline Paint Jobs In the World

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In the 10 years since the mammoth Airbus A380 first took the air, the superjumbo has not become the game-changing aircraft the company had originally hoped it would be. 

Although Airbus has taken 317 orders for the jet, the company has struggled to expand its customer base past the dozen or so airlines that currently operate the airplane. 

And nearly half of those orders are by a single airline — Emirates.

Now the company has to contend with a new problem.

What happens to the early production A380s as they head towards the end of their leases?

According to Robert Wall of the Wall Street Journal, Airbus believes the solution to this problem is budget long-haul airlines. 

Kiran Rao, head of strategy at Airbus's commercial plane making division, told the Journal that a likely destination for second hand superjumbos is airlines looking to fly high volume of passengers in a low-cost setup. 

For these airlines, Airbus would pack the double-decker with 600-650 seats in a two-class setup, with an ideal flying distance of 6-8 hours. In more extreme situations, the company can even set the plane up to handle as many as 800 passengers. 

According to the Airbus executive, the target region for this strategy is in the Asia-Pacific market, where low-cost carriers are currently using smaller widebody airliners, such as the Airbus A330.

So how much demand is there for a sardine-setup superjumbo — "high density" seating, in industry parlance? Rao believes there is room in the market for 40-50 of these second-hand A380s. 

Thus, Airbus may be able to accomplish two objectives with this strategy — find homes for used A380s and expand the plane's customer base. 

But as airlines seek to make their fleets smaller, more flexible, and more fuel efficient, do 600-plus seats jumbo's make business sense?

Maybe.

For example, Virgin Atlantic is in the process of dumping its fleet for fuel-guzzling, 4-engined Airbus A340s in favor of Boeing's new fuel-sipping 787-9 Dreamliner. However, Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger recently told Business Insider in an interview that the airline plans on keeping its fleet of Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets, which are packed with as many as 450 seats.

Why? Because according to Kreeger, the cost per seat makes it financially feasible for the airline. Although, the aging Boeing 747-400 can be quite thirsty for fuel, the high number of seats brings down the average cost per seat associated with operating the plane. 

This seems to the be play that Airbus wants to make with its off-lease A380s. The question is, will carriers bite? Currently, low-cost long-haul carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle and Scoot operate using smaller twin-engined Boeing 777 and 787 jets.

Instead of making money by flying around a lot of people, airlines such as Norwegian seek to maximize the long range and fuel efficiency of their 787 Dreamliners. In fact, Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO Bjorn Kjos told Business Insider last year that the airline's long-haul business couldn't really exist without the efficient nature of planes, such as the Dreamliner.

At the end of the day, the size, and cost of the A380 will always limit the number of airlines and routes where it will be able to thrive — regardless of layout. However, a move towards the low-cost/lots-of-passengers market may be the trick to finding new homes for big old birds. 

SEE ALSO: Here are the 10 best airports in Europe

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Qatar Airways was just named the Best Airline in the World by Skytrax.

Back in 2013, at the Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner created a lot of buzz.

The Dreamliner had endured a tough launch, but by 2013, it was getting its footing and Boeing was racking up the orders.

Business Insider took a tour of the brand-new Qatar jet at the time.

We were impressed.

[An earlier version of this post was written by Alex Davies.]

Qatar Airways took delivery of its Dreamliner just a few days before the 2013 Paris Air Show kicked off.

The entrance of the Qatar 787 leads to business class (there's no first class on this plane).

There's room under the seat for passengers to stretch and prop up their legs.

For airplane makers, events such as 2015 Paris Air Show provide the perfect venue to show off the performance capabilities of their products — not only to airline customers, but also to the general public.

Unfortunately, only a small amount of people can actually make it to the show.

Which why, last week, Boeing released a video of the company's test pilots on a practice run at Moses Lake in Central Washington. The routine in the practice run is identical to the one the team's Boeing 787-9 performed for the crowds and potential buyers at the show. 

Even better, Boeing has uploaded second version of the video using YouTube's new Choose Your View feature. This time, the video not only captures the Dreamliner's flight from multiple angles, it also allows the viewer to instantly toggle back and forth between views. 

According to Boeing, the company filmed the multiple angles by mounting cameras throughout the cockpit in addition to the external footage shot from a helicopter.

As for the routine itself, Boeing is taking full advantage of this opportunity to exhibit the company's hot-selling 787-9 Dreamliner. 

The highlight of the show involves the airliner performing a near vertical takeoff — most commonly performed by high-performance military jets.  

Boeing actually performed a similarly show-stopping routine with the 787-9 last summer at the 2014 Farnborough Air Show in England.

However, the most impressive part from last year's routine — a touch-and-go landing then takeoff— was left out of this year's performance, after air show organizers in Farnborough banned the maneuver for safety reasons.

Like the "Hangover 2," this is pretty much the same display as last year, just in a different country and with less awesomeness.

As impressive as the routine may look, it is unlikely any of the plane's future operators will ever put the Dreamliner through these kinds of paces.

Still, it's good to know that the Dreamliner can fly its way out of trouble with such ease. 

The aircraft used in the performance will eventually enter service with Vietnam Airlines and will be one of 19 787-9 Dreamliners in the fleet. 

The 2015 Paris Air Show runs from June 15 to June 21 at Le Bourget Airport.

Unfortunately, the Choose Your View video cannot be embedded. However, you can see full the video on YouTube.

Check out the original video here:

SEE ALSO: Here are the 20 best airlines in the world

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Norwegian Air International's expansion into the US has ruffled feathers. It's a potentially industry-changing move that US airlines and unions have vigorously opposed.

The US airlines are objecting on the grounds that NAI could exploit foreign labor laws, but in truth they should be worried about the kind of international network the carrier is attempting to create.

Last month, the US Department of Transportation tentatively approved the Irish — yes, Irish — airline's application to fly into the US.

You may be wondering why an airline called "Norwegian" would be based in Ireland. That's the root of the issue.

NAI is one of several subsidiaries operating under the Norwegian banner. Unlike the rest of the company, including Norwegian Air Shuttle, NAI is based in Dublin instead of in Norway.

This, critics say, allows NAI to take advantage of Ireland's employment laws, which are significantly less stringent than Norway's. As a result, they say, NAI could hire lower-cost pilots and cabin crew members from Asia to fly trans-Atlantic routes. (The company's current service to the US is operated by NAS with European crews.)

AFL-CIO Transportation president Edward Wytkind referred to the DOT's decision as one to "green-light this low-road air carrier whose operating plan will destroy fair competition and extinguish middle-class airline jobs here and in Europe."

But NAI says none of its Asia-based crews will operate flights into and out of the US. Further, the pay differential between the airline's Asia- and Europe-based pilots is roughly 1%, Norwegian Air spokesman Anders Lindstrom told Business Insider.

And all this complaining about NAI is happening even though it is tiny, with a fleet of just 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The major US airlines and their European alliance partners have more than 1,000 wide-body long-haul jets at their disposal and are responsible for more than 80% of the traffic across the Atlantic.

Here's why Norwegian is scary

Here's the real problem for US airlines: Norwegian is going to expand rapidly and in a way that eats at the foundation of the hub-based system major US airlines depend on for survival.

How? By offering direct flights to smaller cities in the US from underserved cities in Northern Europe.

In practice, this means passengers in Hartford, Connecticut, or Providence, Rhode Island, no longer have to fly to Boston or New York for an international trip. Instead, for a far lower cost than a US carrier, they might fly NAI to Oslo, Norway; Stockholm; or Hamburg, Germany. Later this year, Norwegian is launching service to Paris from New York, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale.

This kind of setup not only undercuts US airlines' international business; it could also threaten their domestic operation.

But there's more

With its base in European Union-member Ireland, NAI will also be able to use its hubs in Europe as transit points for passengers traveling into and out of Asia and Europe to the US. As a result, NAI will be able to tap into the lucrative US-to-South Asia market over which US, European, and Middle Eastern airlines have fought for the past decade.

The presence of Norwegian and its low-cost model could provide competitive pressure on legacy carriers for value-minded travelers the same way Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar have for premium-cabin clients.

In fact, NAI could be the airline to disrupt the trans-Atlantic long-haul business the same way other low-cost carriers have transformed the European airline industry. In Norwegian's home market, it has forced its local rival SAS to revamp the way the 70-year-old airline does business.

"We have made significant transformative changes to stay competitive and to survive," SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson told Business Insider in March. "We have cut overhead costs, adjusted pensions and union contracts."

NAI's weapon in all this will be narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the Airbus A320neo. The company has orders for as many as 350 of these aircraft in place.

While trans-Atlantic service has traditionally been operated using large wide-body jumbo jets, the narrow-body jets are cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. The first of the 737 Max aircraft are expected to enter service in 2017, while Norwegian is expected to see its first A320neos later this year.

Norwegian won't be able to reach the US legacy carriers' bread-and-butter customer: the high-end business traveler. Major US airlines depend these high-value clients, who fly often and pay full-business or first-class prices, to generate the revenue they need to stay afloat.

Norwegian's low-cost premium cabin on its Dreamliners may attract some of these customers, but it is unlikely to sway high-end corporate clients.

But based on how Norwegian has shaken up the airline industry in its homeland, US carriers should be wary of the disruptive power of this airline.

One final detail: According to Norwegian's CEO, the target price for admission to one of his airline's flight across the Atlantic is $69.

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The 787 Dreamliner is the first new plane Boeing has designed and built from scratch in 20 years, but its entry into service has been far from smooth.

The program has been beset by engine and production issues.

In 2013, the worldwide Dreamliner fleet was grounded after the lithium-ion battery packs on several aircraft caught fire.

With more than $30 billion invested in the plane, Boeing has a lot riding on the state-of-the-art composite airliner.

Fortunately for Boeing, not only has the Dreamliner been a hot seller for the company, with 1,154 orders to date, but its teething troubles seem to have been worked out.

But Boeing may be on the brink of a new problem with the Dreamliner — sales of the innovative jet look to be drying up. At least for the time being.

According to Alwyn Scott of Reuters:

Now the company's flagship plane is facing a new challenge: slowing sales. Boeing needs to sell dozens of 787s to help recover nearly $30 billion it has spent on production and not yet accounted for in its earnings. But the industry is in a sales slump. Sales of Boeing and Airbus wide body jets have fallen 51 percent since 2013, and some analysts and investors predict that without more 787 sales in the near term, Boeing will have to take a sizable charge to write off some of the 787's deferred costs.

Much of the slowdown can be attributed to the dramatic fall in oil prices over the past two years. The Dreamliner was never a cheap aircraft to buy, but 787's greatest selling point is its phenomenal fuel efficiency.

The 787 offers more than 20% better fuel economy than Boeing's previous generation 767 jets. With Brent crude prices cratering from $110 a barrel in 2014 to less than $30 earlier this year, airlines are reluctant to invest in Boeing's fuel miser.

Also, Boeing designed the Dreamliner to offer airlines the ability to bypass major hubs and operate cost-efficient point-to-point flights. But few of the airplane's customers have taken advantage of this capability. As a result, airlines have opted to go for older and cheaper technology, such as the Airbus A330ceo.

Finally, airlines that see the Dreamliner as an integral part of its future strategy have already bought in bulk. During the early days of Boeing's Dreamliner sales drive in the mid 2000s, the company regularly booked 200 to 300 sales a year. Thus, most new customers of the airplane will have to be swayed into committing to the plane.

According to Scott, the 1,154 orders fall short of the 1,300 Dreamliners Boeing is using as a basis for deferring the charges in its accounting.

In addition, Boeing needs to rack up 120 Dreamliner orders this year for sales to keep up with the rate of production, Scott added.

Thus far, Boeing has sold just 16 Dreamliners this year and 149 combined over 2014 and 2015.

But things are not all bad for the Boeing 787. The Dreamliner program has a backlog of more than 750 jets, and the price of crude has rebounded to nearly $50 a barrel. Even if it doesn't reach its previous heights, increasing fuel prices could once again drive airlines to Boeing's fuel-sipping jet.

SEE ALSO: US airlines are terrified of this European upstart you've never heard of — they should be

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NOW WATCH: Take a tour of the $367 million jet that will soon be called Air Force One

Boeing just opened a facility in Everett, Washington, where engineers will craft the largest composite wings in the world for the company's forthcoming 777X airplane. Named the Composite Wing Center, the facility is the size of 25 football fields.

Produced by Zach Wasser

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Imagine if you owned a 2,400-square-foot luxury home with the ability to fly you and 39 of your closest friends to anywhere you want in less than 17 hours. Next month, China's HNA Group will take delivery of a new Boeing 787-8 private jet. As configured, the 787 Boeing Business Jet, has a range of almost 9,800 miles even when packed with 40 passengers, luggage, and fuel.

With a flying time of about 17 hours, the plane can reach virtually any destination on earth, Kestrel Aviation Management CEO Stephen Vella told Business Insider. From start to finish, the aviation consulting firm, Kestrel Aviation, oversaw the creation of this 787.

Although several 787s have been converted from passenger service to private use, this is the first Dreamliner to be built specifically as a BBJ, Vella said. It is the 143rd Dreamliner to roll out of Boeing's factory and first flew in December 2013. The plane was delivered to Kestrel in January 2014.

Since no one had done a true Boeing 787 private jet before, Kestrel, along with partners Pierrejean Design Studios and Greenpoint Technologies, had to design and engineer the interior of the aircraft from scratch. In fact, the interior took a year to engineer as well as another year and a half to fabricate and install, Vella said.

The innovative Boeing 787 BBJ is not exactly cheap. The base Boeing 787-8 carries a list price of $224.6 million, while the modifications add another $100 million or so to the price tag.

Here's a closer look at the first Boeing 787-8 BBJ:

SEE ALSO: This 747 private jet makes Donald Trump's plane look tiny

For years, Boeing has offered its airliners for sale to private parties or governments under its BBJ program. That ranges from the massive 747-8 jumbo jet ...

... all the way down to the narrow-body 737. Now, the latest Boeing jet to get the BBJ treatment is the 787 Dreamliner.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner first flew in 2009, and the composite-body airliner is renowned for its range, comfort, and fuel efficiency. Unlike its passenger-ferrying compatriots, however, the BBJ version carries far fewer people but is packed with a ton more features.