Hainan Airlines has celebrated the arrival of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, becoming the first Chinese carrier to operate both 787-8 and -9 variants of the Dreamliner.

The stretched Dreamliner, Registration B-7880, touched down at Haikou Meilan International Airport on June 10.

The inaugural 787-9 flight will fly from Haikou to Beijing on June 13, before commencing daily services from Beijing to Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Flight HU7281 is scheduled to depart Haikou at 1:00 p.m. and arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport at 4:30 p.m., according to VariFlight, China's leading flight status service provider.

The aircraft will then enter long-haul service on Hainan Airlines' new route from Beijing to Las Vegas, which is due to commence in September 2016.

As the largest 787 operator in China, Hainan Airlines already has 10 787-8s in service and plans to take delivery of 7 more B787-9s in 2016, with the remaining 22 pending delivery in 2017-2021.

The 787-9 complements and extends the 787 family. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 meters) over the 787-8, the 787-9 will fly over 40 more passengers an additional 280 nautical miles (520 kilometers) with the same exceptional environmental performance - 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than the airplanes it replaces.

Hainan Airlines' 787-9 is configured with 289 seats in a two-class layout, including 30 full-flat business class seats. Fitted with onboard Wi-Fi, the Haikou-based carrier offers passengers free Wi-Fi.