Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The first Boeing 787 manufactured in South Carolina is being delivered to Air India in a formal ceremony.

The plane will be turned over to the airline in a ceremony on Friday at Boeing's North Charleston plant. The aircraft is then to fly out of Charleston International Airport sometime on Saturday.

The aircraft is the first assembled at Boeing's new $750 million assembly plant that opened last year adjacent to the airport. It made its maiden flight of about 2,000 miles over the Atlantic Ocean last spring.

Boeing plans to assemble four of the planes at its South Carolina plant this calendar year. It hopes to be producing about three-and-a-half planes a month by the end of 2013. The 787 is made partly from composite materials, including carbon fiber-reinforced plastic.

(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)