The longest Dreamliner has had a busy third quarter on the sales side, and all of that work points to one place: North Charleston.

From July through September, four airlines named the 787-10 in orders or purchase commitments announced by Boeing. The planned jets include 25 for Korean Air, 20 for Riyadh Air, 15 for Philippine Airlines and five for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. A leasing company also ordered 787-9s with the option to switch to the 787-10.

Boeing builds the 787-10 only in South Carolina. When the company picked North Charleston for the model in July 2014, it said the 787-10’s midbody section was too long to ship efficiently to its Everett, Washington, factory for final assembly. Boeing announced in October 2020 that it would consolidate all 787 production in North Charleston starting in 2021, and every 787 is now assembled there.

The summer’s 787-10 deals

The biggest came from Korean Air. On Sept. 16 in Seoul, Boeing and the airline announced that Korean Air had finalized an order for 103 jets: 20 777-9s, 25 787-10s, 50 737-10s and eight 777-8 Freighters. Boeing said the order fulfills a commitment the airline made in August 2025 and called it a previously unidentified order.

At the Farnborough International Airshow in England, Riyadh Air said July 20 it would exercise options for 28 more 787s, most of the options from its 2023 order. The agreement also converts 20 airplanes to the larger 787-10. The deal includes a previously unidentified purchase of 11 airplanes. Once the other 17 are finalized, Riyadh Air will have 67 Dreamliners on firm order, Boeing said.

“The addition of the 787-10 strengthens our ability to accommodate growing passenger and cargo demand while providing the operational flexibility required to support our ambitious network plans,” Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said in the announcement. The Saudi airline had taken delivery of six 787-9s at the time.

The same day, Philippine Airlines committed to as many as 20 787s: 15 787-10s plus the opportunity to buy five more. Boeing said the agreement would support the airline’s fleet modernization once finalized. Boeing’s newsroom had not announced a final order as of mid-October.

On July 21, AerCap, the Dublin-based leasing company that Boeing calls the world’s largest owner of 787s, ordered 15 787-9s. The deal gives AerCap the right to substitute the 787-10. Uganda Airlines placed its first Boeing order the same day, for four 737-8s and four 787-9s.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines followed on Sept. 23 with an order for five 787-10s and six 737-8s. It builds on the 14 787 and 737 MAX jets the airline ordered in April.

“Biman’s follow-on order reflects its strategic approach to fleet renewal and capacity growth, and underscores the strength of our long-standing partnership,” said Brad McMullen, Boeing’s senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing.

Why airlines want the bigger jet

The 787-10 is an 18-foot stretch of the 787-9. Boeing lists it at 300 to 375 seats in a two-class layout and says it carries 50 more seats than the 787-9 while burning 25% less fuel than the airplanes it replaces.

Philippine Airlines plans to fly the 787-10 alongside its 10 777s on medium- and long-haul routes. For Biman, Boeing said, the 787-10 adds capacity alongside the airline’s 787-8s and 787-9s.

What it means for the line

Orders are only part of the story. The North Charleston line has to build the jets.

Boeing delivered 22 787s in the third quarter and 62 through September, the company reported Oct. 13. It delivered 40 in the first half of the year.

Across all its commercial models, Boeing ended June with a backlog of more than 6,200 airplanes valued at a record $597 billion, it said in its second-quarter results. The company reports third-quarter results Oct. 27.

Boeing South Carolina employs 9,059 people, according to the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. The alliance says Boeing launched a site expansion in 2025 worth more than $1 billion, with plans to add more than 1,000 jobs.

The first 787-10s took shape on the North Charleston line in 2017, and Boeing rolled out launch customer Singapore Airlines’ first one there that October. Nearly a decade later, the model is drawing buyers from Seoul to Dhaka.