R.I.P Boeing 787-3 2007-2008

What was the 787-3?

The Boeing 787-3 was a project headlined by Boeing to answer the middle of the market problem. This was a market that needed aircraft bigger than the 737 or A320, seating around 250-270 passengers, with a range of around 5,000 nautical miles.

Boeing planned the 787-3 to carry 290 to 330 passengers in a two-class configuration. It was essentially the same size as a 787-8 that could carry slightly more passengers as a 787-9 (max 290 passengers). However, its range would not have been able to match the other 787s distance of 6,400 nautical miles - it could only fly 3,050 nautical miles (5,650 km). The plane would have been fitted with very dense seating and limited to a maximum take-off weight of only 165 tonnes, reducing the amount of fuel it could carry.

What happened to the Boeing 787-3?

The Boeing 787-3 concept was a winner in Japan, with both Japan Airlines and ANA ordering the type (13 and 28 orders respectively). However, during the development of the 787 program in 2008, Boeing decided to focus on the long-range 787-8 and pull engineers away from the 787-3.

Because the delay extended out for three years without a delivery date confirmed, the two customers for the type decided to switch to the same sized (although less passenger capacity) 787-8. After all, now the aircraft could fly further and be more flexible for airline route planning.

It could have fixed Boeing's NMA?

Credit to GalactiaAsia for the original version and Shahzod035774 for the shortened version to make this possible and Simple Flying for the description.