Airlines seek Boeing 787 compensation

The world's second-largest maker of commercial jets announced the delay on Wednesday, pushing back delivery into the third quarter of 2009, more than a year after the original target of May this year.

Air New Zealand, Air India, Qantas, Japan's two big carriers, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, British Airways, Virgin were among those seeking redress from Boeing.

"The 787 is an extremely fuel-efficient aircraft," said Japan Airlines' chief executive Haruka Nishimatsu. "A delay will impact us significantly."

More than 50 airlines are waiting for 892 Boeing 787s, worth a combined $145 billion at list prices.

Despite the problems, Boeing shares jumped 4.8 percent on Wednesday and were recently up 0.3 percent.

Australia's Qantas, the plane's second-biggest buyer ordering 65 planes, said it had already put in a claim for redress after previous delays and was due substantial damages.

"We did anticipate a further delay and have been working on contingencies for some time," Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said.

The Dreamliner has been held up as Boeing makes slow progress on assembling the plane and said it has further supply problems.

Boeing had planned to outsource almost all major manufacturing to outside companies and then assemble the plane itself but discover this would make it hard to monitor faults and delays.