The world's first carbon-composite airliner prepares to fly for the first time carrying paying passengers.<br/> One hundred expensive seats on the inaugural flight from Chiba, Japan to Hong Kong were available to paying passengers - the lucky few spoke of their excitement.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 51 YEAR OLD NAONOBU FUJIMOTO:<br/> "I want to try riding on it once as it uses a lot of Japanese technology as well. I've heard that it's a pretty revolutionary plane and so I really wanted to try riding on it."<br/> The plane itself could set a new benchmark in air travel.<br/> With its carbon-composite body, Boeing's technological flagship offers a 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and 30 percent reduction in maintenance costs.<br/> The first flight was a success and the Dreamliner landed safely at it's destination in Hong Kong.<br/> Airlines might be interested in its increased efficiency but passengers will likely be impressed by the larger windows, seat to seat email and bigger touch screen entertainment panels.<br/> The inaugural flight of the 787 came exactly 53 years after Boeing's first ever jetliner, the 707, began commercial services.<br/> Simon Hanna, Reuters.
