Thomson Airways’ tenth Dreamliner touched down at Manchester Airport earlier.

The airline’s managing director, John Murphy, landed the aircraft after flying 3,950 miles across the Atlantic from the Boeing Factory in Charleston, South Carolina.

Its arrival is extra special for the airline, as it is the first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to enter the Thomson fleet.

The 787-9 is six metres longer than the 787-8 Dreamliners and includes 45 more seats, so will carry a total of 345 customers to far flung destinations from Jamaica and Dominican Republic to Mexico.

In preparation for Thomson’s rebrand to TUI in the autumn 2017, the aircraft arrived in the new TUI livery.

Murphy said: “We are delighted to welcome the first 787-9 Dreamliner into our fleet. 

“Since we took delivery of our first Dreamliner in May 2013, the aircraft has been a big hit with our customers and we’ve received excellent feedback. 

“We are committed to investing in our fleet to innovate our customers flying experience.

“Our new bigger Dreamliner will allow even more customers to enjoy the revolutionary benefits this aircraft offers, when traveling to their holiday destination.

“This aircraft is key to expanding our long haul programme. 

“We are always looking at new and exciting destinations to offer customers even more holiday choice. 

“For this winter we have introduced holidays to Sri Lanka and next summer St Lucia will also be added to our holiday line-up.”

The airline will be taking delivery of up to four 787-9 Dreamliners before June 2019, so there will be nine Boeing 787-8 and five Boeing 787-9 in the fleet.

Thomson is planning to operate the aircraft on short haul routes, before the 787-9 begins flying its long haul routes.