On Tuesday 19th April 2016 Bristol Airport welcomed the arrival of the first ever Boeing 787-8 aircraft from Thomson, the aircraft was visiting the airport on trials and to launch new services from the airport in Summer 2017 to Mexico and Orlando.
At 11:10am Boeing 787-8 G-TUIB named ‘Alfie’ landed at Bristol Airport and was welcomed by a large amount of spotters on Winters Lane, the last time the lane was that busy was for the rugby world cup charter flights, one of the videos below show Winters Lane and how busy it got on the day. The team from Bristol Airport Spotting were invited by Bristol Airport to be airside for the arrival of the aircraft which was both an honour and a privilege. We were able to take very close up photos of the aircraft landing, taxiing and arriving on stand.
As part of the day we were also invited onboard to see the cabin and flight deck as well as talk to the Captains onboard who regularly fly the 787 Dreamliner. Being able to see the flight deck on this fairly new aircraft was a nice moment for myself being a student pilot and comparing the differences of other aircraft in the fleet.
The Boeing 787 aircraft will start services from Bristol Airport in May 2017 to Cancun and Sanford on Saturdays and Sundays, the 787 aircraft will not be based at Bristol Airport but we are hoping over the years more destinations are added and eventually an aircraft will be based here.
Both myself (Simon) and Callum would like to thank the airport for their generoisty and for inviting us airside on this historical day for the airport and Thomson.
Please see the gallery of photos below, below the photos are some videos taken and permission given to use in this article on our website.
Boeing 787 arrives at Bristol Airport:-