Boeing's Dreamliner has completed its maiden commercial voyage, three years later than planned.
Flight NH7871, carrying paying passengers and more than 40 journalists, has landed in Hong Kong after a four and a half hour flight from Tokyo's Narita airport.
Operator All Nippon Airways says the wider cabin and bigger windows will help give customers a more comfortable journey.
Today's flight is a special charter, with normal services due to start in November.
The 264-seat aircraft will return from Hong Kong tomorrow. ANA sold two business-class seats on the Dreamliner, for about $18,600 in a charity auction to help promote the introduction of the first aircraft largely built from carbon-fiber reinforced materials.
The new lightweight technology will reduce fuel costs while also supporting changes designed to improve passenger comfort, including 30 per cent bigger windows and higher cabin pressure.
Struggles with the new materials contributed to Boeing delaying the aircraft's entry into service seven times since 2007. The Chicago-based planemaker was also held up by a greater reliance on subcontractors.
The cabin on the Dreamliner is 75 centimetres wider than a 767 and is fitted with bigger luggage compartments and energy-saving light-emitting diode lights, according to All Nippon. The plane also has windows 47cm high and 28cms wide as the composite materials are able to support larger openings than traditional airframes.
ANA will take delivery of dozens more of the aircraft in the coming years. Boeing plans to make 10 of the planes a month from 2013.
Agencies