The Dreamliner, the first airliner to feature a carbon-fibre fuselage, is being hailed by the manufacturer as a revolution in air travel.
Boeing's sixth 787, ZA006, departed from Boeing Field in Seattle at 11.02am on December 6 and set the distance record for its class (199,580-250,000 kilograms) with a 19,835-kilometre flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh, with credit for 19,144 kilometres.
The record had previously been held by the Airbus A330 based on a 16,903-kilometre flight in 2002.
Following an approximately two-hour stop for refuelling in Dhaka, the aircraft returned to Seattle on a 18,027-kilometre flight.
The aircraft landed at 5.29am on December 8, setting a new record for speed around the world (eastbound) with a total trip time of 42 hours and 27 minutes. There was no previous around-the-world speed record for this weight class.
The 787 carried six pilots, an observer for the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), and operations and other Boeing employees - 13 people in total.
Boeing has heralded the Dreamliner as 20 per cent more fuel efficient than other aircraft of its size and spruiked its ability to fly more than 15,000 kilometres.
Meanwhile, Japan Airlines said yesterday it would fly the Dreamliner on routes connecting Tokyo with Beijing, New Delhi and Moscow from next spring.
JAL President Masaru Onishi told a press conference that his company was expecting to receive the first Dreamliner in February. It was previously expected in December or January.
JAL had earlier announced a plan to use the fuel-efficient jets for the Narita-Boston route from April.
Onishi said the jets would also fly the routes between Tokyo's Narita airport and New Delhi and Moscow, as well as from the capital's Haneda airport to Beijing.
The long-awaited 787 made its first commercial flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong on October 26, operated by its first customer All Nippon Airways (ANA).
