Boeing Opens New 787 Final Assembly Facility

Boeing has opened a new 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly building in North Charleston, USA.

Employees began moving into the new building in May, and final assembly of the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner is expected to begin later this summer.

"In this building, our talented Boeing South Carolina teammates are going to assemble the finest, most technologically advanced commercial widebody airplane in history," said Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina. "Airline customers from around the world will come to the South Carolina Lowcountry to take delivery of their 787s, and we look forward to demonstrating what 'made with pride in South Carolina' is all about."

Thin-film solar laminate panels were installed on the roof of the Final Assembly building. This solar installation will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical power for the site and is the largest in the Southeast by production capacity.

The new Final Assembly building features 642,720 square feet (59,711 m2) of covered space, roughly the equivalent of 10.5 football fields. More than 18,000 tons (16,329 mt) of steel and one million cubic feet (28,316.8 m3) of concrete were used in its construction.

At full production rate, the South Carolina Final Assembly facility will produce three 787 Dreamliners per month.

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