HomeAircraft › Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Boeing · Widebody · In production

The aircraft that reinvented long-haul economics.

Length68.28 m
Wingspan60.12 m
Range11,730 km
MTOW254 t
Typical seats336
Built1,200+
Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by aircraft.fyi from the core specification — see how we calculate these.

Seats per metre#8 of 35
4.92 seats/m typical seats ÷ fuselage length
Range per tonne#42 of 65
46.2 km/t maximum range ÷ MTOW in tonnes
Span-to-length ratio#34 of 68
0.88 wingspan ÷ fuselage length
Weight per metre#23 of 68
3.72 t/m MTOW ÷ fuselage length
Range in hours#13 of 65
12.3 h maximum range ÷ cruise speed
Weight per seat#18 of 35
756 kg MTOW ÷ typical seats
Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner's wingspan, against things you already know the size of.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner60.12 m
Football pitch (width)68 m
Blue whale25 m
New Routemaster bus11.2 m
You (probably)1.75 m
Specification

The numbers

Length (787-10)68.28 m
Wingspan60.12 m
Height17.02 m
MTOW254,011 kg
Range (787-10)11,730 km
Typical seats (787-10)336 (2-class)
Engines2 × GEnx-1B or Trent 1000
First flight15 December 2009
Delivered1,200+

Compare it

Put the Boeing 787 next to something

Last verified: 2026-07-14 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

The 787 was Boeing's bet that the future of long-haul wasn't bigger — it was leaner. Half the airframe by weight is carbon-fibre composite, the fuselage is wound as giant one-piece barrels, and the systems run on electricity instead of engine bleed air. The payoff: roughly 20% less fuel than the aircraft it replaced, a cabin pressurised lower and humidified higher, and windows a third larger that dim electronically.

Its real legacy is the route map. The 787 made thin, ultra-long routes profitable that no bigger jet could sustain — Perth to London, San Diego to Tokyo — opening hundreds of new nonstop city pairs and quietly killing the hub-only model the A380 was built for.

The programme survived a battery-fire grounding in 2013 and a bruising quality-control crisis in 2021–22. Over 1,200 have been delivered across three lengths; the 787-10 at 68.28 metres is the family's stretch and the 13th-longest aircraft ever built.

Common questions

Boeing 787 Dreamliner — the short answers

How fast is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner cruises at about 954 km/h — roughly 515 knots, or 593 mph.
How far can the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fly?
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has a maximum range of about 11,730 km (6,334 nautical miles, 7,290 miles). At its cruise speed that is roughly 12.3 hours in the air.
How many people does the Boeing 787 Dreamliner carry?
A typical Boeing 787 Dreamliner carries 336 passengers. Exact figures vary with the operator's chosen configuration.
Is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner still in production?
Status: In production. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flew in 2009, and about 1,200 have been built.
How big is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is 68.28 m long with a wingspan of 60.12 m and a height of 17.02 m. Its maximum takeoff weight is 254,011 kg.
Variants

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner line

787-8
The 56.72 m original, 2011.
787-9
The 62.81 m mid-size — the family's best-seller.
787-10
The 68.28 m stretch. Spec shown above.
Operators

Who flies the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

The top 10 operators by fleet size, of ≈90 worldwide — the rest are aggregated below. Counts marked ≈ are approximate, verified 2026-07-14.

UAUnited AirlinesThe world's largest 787 operator and the only US carrier flying all three variants: 12 × 787-8, 54 × 787-9, 21 × 787-10.87 NHAll Nippon AirwaysThe launch customer, and for years the largest operator of the type.86 AAAmerican AirlinesThe world's largest operator of the smallest variant: 37 × 787-8 alongside 33 × 787-9.70 JLJapan Airlines≈50 QRQatar Airways≈48 BABritish Airways≈43 EYEtihad Airways≈43 ACAir Canada≈40
CNHainan Airlines≈38
TKTurkish Airlines≈30
Other operatorsAround 80 more airlines worldwide fly the Dreamliner. Counts are fleet-report approximations, verification pass pending.≈450