All Nippon Airways is now set to beat Air New Zealand in the race to become the first airline to deploy the B787-9 into revenue service.
ANA is due to take delivery of its first 787-9 on July 29th, and plans to operate the aircraft on domestic flights from August. Long-term plans involve commencing long-haul operations during April 2015.
ANA currently operates 28 787-8s.
Air New Zealand took delivery of the first 787-9 earlier this month, but is only set to commence services on October 15th.