Plane spotters jostling for pictures of Etihad’s new Dreamliner parked at the Boeing plant in Seattle have gone to extraordinary lengths to steal a peek of the plane.
Etihad's first 787 Dreamliner is due to arrive in the capital next month, after being rolled out at an event in Seattle four weeks ago. But the aircraft, which features Etihad's new "Facets of Abu Dhabi" livery, has already proved a big draw for the anorak-wearing international plane-spotting community. Among them is 27-year-old Bernie Leighton, who paid US$500 to hire a helicopter to snatch a nerd's eye view of the Seattle plant where the plane has been parked.
Selling the first picture of the plane would cover the cost of the ride, he told Bloomberg News.
In four-and-a-half years of plane spotting, Mr Leighton has taken more than 35,000 pictures and attracted some 7 million internet views from fellow “avgeeks”, the news wire reported.
The plane buying spree of the Gulf's three big carriers are keeping Mr Leighton and his fellow plane spotters busy as Emirates Airline, Etihad and Qatar Airways take delivery of scores of new aircraft from rivals Boeing and Airbus.
Etihad has identified more than 40 international routes for the Dreamliner, which will initially operate between Abu Dhabi and Düsseldorf and between Abu Dhabi and Doha. Services to Brisbane, Mumbai, Moscow and Washington DC are expected to follow in the first half of 2015.
The new First Suite on the B787 aircraft will include a chilled mini-bar and five-star cuisine prepared on board.
scronin@thenational.ae
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