Boeing's 787 Dreamliner first flight on schedule

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Monday its 787 Dreamliner would make its first flight in the fourth quarter of 2008, repeating the revised schedule for the new airplane's launch announced in April.

Dmitry Krol, director of communications for Boeing in Russia and the CIS, said first deliveries of the plane were scheduled for the third quarter of 2009, also as previously stated.

"There is no change to the schedule for the 787 that we announced in April, which has us achieving power on by the end of June, first flight in the fourth quarter of 2008 and first delivery in the third quarter of 2009," said Krol.

The company clarified its schedule after Mike Bair, vice-president of business strategy and marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on Sunday the plane would fly "by the end of summer".

Bair was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. He did not say that the schedule had changed.

The fuel-efficient 787 smashed early sales records for Boeing and is seen by some analysts as key to the company's financial future.

(Reporting by Robin Paxton; editing by Sue Thomas)