MIAT Mongolian Airlines, the flag carrier of Mongolia, has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787, a 787-9, as of August 11, 2023.
The aircraft, registered as EI-MGL, flew from Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK), China to Ulaanbaatar New International Airport (UBN), where it landed at 10:00 AM local time (UTC +8), according to flightradar24.com data.
UBN is also known as Chinggis Khan International Airport.
This is the airline’s first Boeing 787, which joined its wide-body fleet, consisting of a single Boeing 767-300ER.
Previously, the aircraft was registered as B-20AF and was operated by Suparna Airlines, which withdrew it from use in August 2022, storing it at Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), according to planespotters.net data. It was moved to HAK in May 2023, before it finally landed at UBN and was transferred to MIAT Mongolian Airlines.
Boeing delivered the aircraft to Suparna Airlines in July 2019.
On August 7, 2023, the airline announced that it and AerCap, an Ireland-based aircraft lessor, has signed an agreement for a long-term lease of two Boeing 787-9s. The second aircraft of the type should be delivered in Q1 2023, according to the announcement.
MIAT Mongolian Airlines said that its initial routes using the 787-9 would be to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Germany, Istanbul Airport (IST), Turkey, and Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN), South Korea. There are also plans to use the aircraft to operate flights to the United States (US).
According to ch-aviation.com data, there are seven Boeing 787-9s owned by AerCap that are currently inactive. Another one is currently associated with Suparna Airlines, while the remaining aircraft are currently with Air Europa, Bamboo Airways, EgyptAir, El Al, Oman Air, and Vietnam Airlines, while Suparna Airlines also has another 787-9 that is currently inactive.
However, Vietnam Airlines’ Boeing 787-9, registered as VN-A869, returned to service on August 9, 2023. Oman Air’s 787-9, registered as A40-SG, did so on the same day, after several days of staying on the ground. The rest of the aircraft have not flown at least since May 2023, while the Suparna Airlines Boeing 787-9, registered as B-208C, was moved from PVG to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on July 28, 2023, an analysis of flightradar24.com data showed.
In early August 2023, Mongolia and the US signed an Open Skies agreement, which could open the doors to direct flights happening between the two countries starting 2024.