Boeing 787's dimmable windows not dark enough, says ANA

TOKYO (Reuters) - Boeing Co's launch customer for its 787 Dreamliner, Japan's All Nippon Airways says the plane's electronic dimmable windows are not dark enough for long haul flights and has asked the U.S. plane maker to make the plane's cabin darker.

The Japanese airline is looking to install pull-down blinds on 787s already delivered, an industry source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. ANA wants darker windows for two Dreamliners operated on long-haul routes, company spokesman Ryosei Nomura said.

"For our passengers to have good sleep, we realized that it is important to offer appropriate darkness during flights especially for long haul," Nomura said.

Chicago-based Boeing declined to say whether other 787 customers had asked for darker windows or to discuss how it would meet ANA's request.

"The response of our customers and the flying public to the larger, dimmable windows on the 787 has been very favorable," the plane maker said in a statement. "As always, Boeing works with its customers on an ongoing basis to understand new requirements and offer solutions."

The long-distance 787 boasts several features designed to improve passengers' comfort on long trips, including a higher cabin pressure aimed at reducing jet lag, state-of-the-art lighting and the largest windows of any airliner in service, made possible because of the strength of the carbon-fiber fuselage.

The 20 percent larger-than-standard dimmable windows, the first on a commercial passenger jet, darken but do not go opaque.

This criticism of one of the most visible and eye-catching features seen by passengers will be an embarrassment after three years of production delays and is likely to be seized on by rival Airbus as it develops a different kind of system for the future A350, its answer to the Dreamliner due in 2014.

"If it can't be fixed it's a minor embarrassment" for Boeing, said Richard Aboulafia, a U.S. aerospace analyst with Teal Group. He added that more importantly, the issue didn't affect the 787's airworthiness.

Still, the disclosure comes at an uncomfortable moment weeks before the July 9-15 Farnborough Airshow at which Boeing plans to showcase the first 787 Dreamliner to be delivered to influential Middle East customer Qatar Airways.

ANA has ordered 55 787s, a replacement for the 767, making the new jetliner the centerpiece of its fleet plans for the next several years. The carbon composite plane is designed to be more fuel efficient and, therefore, cheaper to operate. It also boast higher cabin pressure and humidity in order to make flying more comfortable.

Boeing so far has taken more than 850 orders for its 787, and says it will crank up production to 10 aircraft a month by the end of 2013. Glitches such as recent signs of delamination on the rear fuselage of some planes will not, it insists, further delay a project three years behind schedule. Delamination occurs when stress causes layered composite materials to separate.

ANA's local rival Japan Airlines is also a big customer for the 787, with four already flying international routes and another 41 of the jets on order. The carrier said so far it has not asked Boeing for darker windows.

"At this moment, we have not made any such request to Boeing," JAL spokeswoman, Sze Hunn Yap said.

The U.S. company accounts for around 90 percent of commercial plane sales in Japan, the biggest market share it has in any major aviation market.

Apart from the windows, ANA says it is happy with the seven 787s it operates. In the first six months of flying the aircraft on international routes, the plane burned 21 percent less fuel compared with a 767, the carrier said. Boeing's sales pitch claims a 20 percent fuel savings.

ANA added that a survey of passengers found that nine out of 10 said the plane met or exceeded their expectations.

Cabin accessories are a vital part of the battle between Airbus and Boeing for deliveries worth some $80 billion a year.

Airbus, a unit of EADS , recently went as far as measuring the time it takes to darken the electro-chromically operated windows on the 787 against the switch-operated mechanical blinds it plans to offer as an option on the A350, saying it takes 2 minutes to fully darken a 787 window and one second to blot out the light on a 350 mock-up.

The European manufacturer has told industry specialists that the technology used by Boeing does not provide 100 percent darkness and could add to maintenance cost. However, industry experts say designers must balance this against the extra weight of mechanical features compared with electronic parts.

ANA shares, which have gained 7 percent this year compared with a 2.5 percent gain in the benchmark Topix index in Tokyo, rose 3.6 percent to close at 231 yen on Wednesday. Boeing shares were up 0.4 percent to $73.20 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading. (Reporting by Tim Kelly, with additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Karen Jacobs in Atlanta; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and M.D. Golan)

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