The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft is surrounded by employees and special guests during its world premiere outside the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington, July 8, 2007. Boeing Co. unveiled its lightweight, carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner on Sunday in front of 15,000 cheering employees, customers and suppliers, capping a weekend of hype and a flurry of orders for the new fuel-efficient plane. (Xinhua Photo)
 

U.S. Boeing Co. on Sunday rolled out the first of its 787 Dreamliners at the company's wide body assembly plant in Everett, Washington, local media reported.

Compared with "today's similarly sized airplane," Boeing's new model "will use 20 percent less fuel," the company said in a statement.

Boeing said its all-new jet would be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites -- lighter, more durable, but less vulnerable to corrosion than aluminum.

Over the last few years, Boeing has received orders of more than 600 Dreamliners from airlines, leasing companies and other plane buyers.

Five Chinese carriers have committed to buying 57 of the new fuel-efficient, long-haul planes. And three Chinese companies are producing parts and components.

Boeing announced last month that the Los Angeles-base International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), the largest airplane leasing company in the world, ordered 63 airplanes worth 8.8 billion U.S. dollars at list prices.

The deal, including 52 of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner jets, helped push sales of the biggest passenger plane maker's latest model to an astonishing 634 firm orders even before the first jet rolled out.

ILFC's order was the single biggest one for the 787 jet since Boeing launched the Dreamliner program to develop a mid-sized fuel-efficient passenger airliner in 2004.

The biggest previous 787 order from a single buyer was All Nippon Airways' 50-plane launch order.

Editor: Yan