SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) said on Thursday it was in talks with US aircraft giant Boeing about possible delays in the delivery of the its new 787 Dreamliner plane.

'We are in touch with Boeing and talking to them about the consequences of the delay,' SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw said in an e-mailed statement to AFP.

'Our deliveries are scheduled for much later - we are not one of the first customers - so the downline consequences are being worked through now.' SIA, one of the world's top carriers, has placed a firm order for 20 Boeing 787-9s with an option for another 20. Deliveries of the planes are scheduled between early 2011 and mid-2013.

Based on Boeing's catalogue prices, the 20 firm orders were worth US$4.52 billion (S$6.7 billion) at the time the deal was signed in 2006.

Boeing said Tuesday it was postponing the first test flight of the Dreamliner planned in the fourth quarter because of problems with fasteners and a crippling 58-day machinists strike.

Yvonne Leach, a Boeing spokeswoman for the Dreamliner programme, told AFP it would announce a new Dreamliner launch timetable after an assessment has been completed.

It was the fourth time Boeing has delayed the Dreamliner launch. The first deliveries, initially planned for the first half of 2008, were recently pushed back to the third quarter of 2009 due to production difficulties.

Despite the delays, Mr Forshaw said 'we remain committed to our 787 order as part of our ongoing plan to be an early adopter of new, fuel-efficient aircraft.' The Dreamliner is Boeing's first new model in more than a decade and was designed using high-tech plastic composites instead of aluminum.

According to Boeing, the 787 will use 20 per cent less fuel than today's airplanes of comparable size.

Boeing says it has received nearly 900 orders for the aircraft from more than 55 customers worldwide. -- AFP