longer as fuel efficient. In its present configuration the plane will seat 302 passengers and be used initially to fly to Australia. While the airline has fixed an October date for flights from Auckland to Perth, it may put on earlier services to Sydney.

Three planes are due for delivery before the end of the year and they will also be used to fly to Shanghai and Tokyo.

A group of airline executive, Boeing staff, VIPs and journalists from around the world are aboard the plane which took off from Paine Field and will be welcomed Air New Zealand workers at the carrier's technical operations base.

The airline first ordered the Dreamliner a decade ago. Its initial order was for the earlier model 787-8 but when it changed to the next model 9-series -- which is larger and has new features -- it hoped to have it by 2010.

Watch: Take a look inside Air NZ's Dreamliner

However, production delays, design problems and labour disputes pushed the whole programme back.

The plane uses technology designed for the military by Boeing, most notably extensive use of carbon fibre in the fuselage and parts of the wings.

This makes it lighter, providing improved fuel economy of 20 per cent on the 767 aircraft it is replacing.

It also has new cabin features -- bigger windows, more comfortable pressure and levels of humidity and revolutionary lighting -- which is aimed at making long-haul journeys more pleasant.

While the plane will be more economical to run, the airline has said it will keep "downward pressure" on fares rather than necessarily leading to reductions in ticket prices.

Air NZ is hosting a livestream of the landing - including a plan for air-to-air filming of the jet's arrival. This will be weather