Air China today officially took delivery of the nation's first 787-9 Dreamliner at Boeing South Carolina in North Charleston.

The Dreamliner, Registration B-7877, will leave Charleston on Thursday morning and arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport around 2::00 p.m. the next day, followed by its inaugural flight to Chengdu on May 26.

After that the flag carrier will fly the Dreamliner to Shanghai and Guangzhou before serving long-haul routes to Frankfurt and Rome.

The 787-9 is configured with 293 seats in a three-class layout - 30 lie-flat seats in Business Class (2-2-2) in rows of 11-15, 34 seats in Premium Economy Class, arranged 3-3-3 from rows 31 through 34, and 229 Economy seats also stacked 3-3-3 from rows 35 through 61.

Air China placed its order for 15 787-8s in 2005 before changing the order to 15 787-9s in 2010 due to long-delayed delivery. The flag carrier is scheduled to take delivery of seven 787-9s in 2016, with the rest pending delivery by 2018.

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