On 19 December 2017 at the Verona airport took place the inaugural ceremony for the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner entered the fleet of the italian airline company Neos. It is the first B-787 Dreamliner used by an Italian company.
Neos chose Verona and its Catullo airport as the operational and maintenance base for this aircraft. The inaugural ceremony was attended by numerous Verona airport authorities as well as numerous tour operators from all over Italy.
The aircraft landed in Verona in the morning and, after embarking authorities, journalists and other guests, took off for an inaugural flight around the Veneto region flying over Chioggia, Venice, Bolzano and then returning to the airport of Verona.
During the route the aircraft was flanked by some MB-339PAN aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori acrobatic team who escorted it until landing. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will enter service from this winter and will be fully operational from next summer. Neos, which is the third largest passenger company, has confirmed its willingness to fly to the Verona airport.
The event that took place inside the hangar, updated in the infrastructures in order to contain the aircraft, and all flight operations were allowed thanks to the collaboration of the italian State Authorities and in particular of ENAC and ENAV.
On 13 December 2017, the EI-NEO B787-9 aircraft for the Neos company had landed at Malpensa airport after a direct flight from the US factory of Boeing in Everett, Washington. The Dreamliner will be immediately put into service for leisure destinations, flanking and then replacing the 3 B-767 ER (Extended Range) currently in service. During 2018, 2 additional Boeing B-787 Dreamliner are expected to arrive in June and October. Neos aircraft are equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines accompanied by TotalCare® technical support.
Neos thus becomes the 45th company in the world to operate the 787 Dreamliner. The new aircraft will thus provide the Italian airline with greater efficiency, autonomy, comfort for passengers and flexibility for its operations.
Neos
Founded in 2001, Neos works onto the holiday market in Italy by offering scheduled and charter flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, China and the Mediterranean. Neos is part of Alpitour World (the only shareholder), the leading integrated tourism company in Italy that operates, in addition to aviation, tour operators, hotel management, destination management and distribution services. Neos is a carrier that operates only Boeing B-737, B-767 and now B-787 aircraft. The company announced earlier this year that together with the B-787, from 2019 will also rent the new single-aisle plane of Boeing, B-737 MAX.
Remember that the Italian industry, through Leonardo, is responsible for the production of 14% of the Boeing 787 cell structure, including the central section of the fuselage and the horizontal stabilizer of the airplane.
To date, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the best-selling double-aisle aircraft in history. Boeing delivered over 625 B-787s since its entry into service in 2011, transporting over 200 million people on over 610 routes.
Source: Garda Airports, Verona Catullo Airport