( CNN ) -- The latest incarnation of Boeing 's Dreamliner finished its maiden flight Tuesday afternoon , completing a test run of more than five hours . A larger version of the 787-8 , the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is 206 feet long -- 20 feet longer than its predecessor -- and holds 40 more passengers . ( The 787-8 can hold 210-250 passengers . ) Its range is also greater , at 8,000-8,500 nautical miles , versus the 787-8 's range of 7,650-8,200 nautical miles . Like the 787-8 , the new plane uses 20 % less fuel and has 20 % fewer emissions than other planes its size . Watch it online . Boeing provided live coverage via webcast prior to the aircraft 's 11:02 a.m. PT ( 1 p.m . ET ) takeoff from Paine Field Airport in Everett , Washington . After a five-hour , 16-minute flight , it landed at Seattle 's Boeing Field at 4:18 p.m. PT ( 7:18 p.m . ET ) . The two pilots , Capt . Mike Bryan and Capt . Randy Neville , were expected to speak afterward at a news conference , also to be carried on the webcast . `` This is a beautiful machine , '' said Ray Conner , president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes , speaking on the webcast shortly after takeoff . `` It 's going to be the backbone of the 787 fleet . '' Pre-debut . The latest Dreamliner rolled out of the factory in Everett , Washington , in late August , and it is scheduled to be delivered to its first customer , Air New Zealand , in mid-2014 . World 's largest airliner : Is bigger better ? This year , Boeing has had more than 82 orders to date for the 787 , with the largest order of 42 planes coming from American Airlines . Singapore Airlines has the second largest order for 787s with 30 planes ordered . Approximately 40 % of all 787 orders to date ( not just this year ) are for the 787-9 . The announcement is one of the few celebratory moments for the company in recent months . The four-month global grounding of the entire Dreamliner fleet , after an ANA flight was diverted following a battery fire in January , was the first such global grounding in 30 years . To get the plane back in the sky , a team made up of experts from Boeing and from outside the company redesigned the system so battery cells would be separated and insulated . The new system also was designed to ventilate outside the plane any smoke that would come from overheating batteries . The grounding was lifted at the end of April . Since the dramatic ANA incident , Dreamliner 's list of problems has gone on to include a United Airlines emergency landing in Houston caused by brake problems and a fire started by an emergency locator beacon on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 at Heathrow Airport . United flights were diverted as a precaution last summer due to a faulty fuel pump indicator and an oil level indicator . As well as being lighter and more fuel efficient than similar aircraft , the Dreamliner 's in-cabin experience is also different . It has bigger windows that can be dimmed ( out go the pull-down shutters ) , LED mood lighting and is pressurized at 6,000 feet rather than 8,000 feet , making air sickness less likely . Another new airplane . The 787-9 wo n't be the final iteration of the 787 aircraft . In June , Boeing announced the launch of the 787-10 Dreamliner . Final assembly and flight tests are scheduled to begin in 2017 , with first delivery tentatively scheduled in 2018 . The company said the 787-10 will fly up to 7,000 nautical miles and have seating for 300-330 passengers . CNN 's Thom Patterson contributed to this story .
NEW : Boeing 's Dreamliner 787-9 lands after after 5-plus-hour test flight . The Dreamliner 787-9 holds 40 more passengers than the earlier 787 . Air New Zealand will receive the first 787-9 in mid-2014 .