Lufthansa takes delivery of its first 777 freighter

Boeing has handed over to Lufthansa its first Boeing 777F freighter plane after the aircraft maker had to carry out last-minute minor repairs to the left wing, a spokesman for Lufthansa's cargo unit said on Friday.

Lufthansa Cargo was due to unveil the plane at a ceremony on November 1 but last week had to postpone the event because of the repairs.

Lufthansa Cargo said in a statement the brand new plane will be flown from Everett/Washington to Frankfurt on Friday and a ceremony to mark its first commercial flight would take place on November 19.

The plane is due to fly to JFK Airport on November 19, the spokesman said.

During a handover scheduled on October 29, it was determined that the slats on the left wing needed to be fixed. The slats on the wings are used to give more lift to a plane at slower speeds.

The delay in delivery to Lufthansa, one of Boeing's biggest cargo customers, comes as Boeing deals with a series of problems with its new Dreamliner 787 passenger jet.

The first 777 freighter was delivered in 2009. It uses the same wing as the 777 passenger version which has been in service since the 1990s with over 1,000 of the aircraft delivered.

Lufthansa has ordered five 777F aircraft, each of which cost around $300 million at list prices.

(Marilyn Gerlach - Reuters)