MUMBAI: US aircraft manufacturer Boeing today said it would compensate Air India for the delay in the delivery of Dreamliner 787 aircraft to the Indian carrier."We will compensate Air India for the delay in the delivery of Dreamliners," Boeing Senior Vice-President Dinesh Keskar told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation summit here.In 2005, the national carrier had placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft costing USD 11.6 billion.Of the 68 aircraft, 27 are Dreamliners.

The first Dreamliner was scheduled to be delivered by end-this year, but the deliveries are now expected to be delayed."There have been supply-chain strains," Keskar said, adding that this has resulted in delay in the delivery of the aircraft.The first Dreamliner will now be delivered to Air India in 2009, he said, adding that the delivery date has, however, not been decided yet.Besides Air India, private carriers Jet Airways and SpiceJet have placed orders with Boeing.

Jet has ordered for 53 aircraft, of which 10 are Dreamliners. SpiceJet has ordered for 30 aircraft.Boeing has an order book of 140 planes worth USD 20 billion from India, for which deliveries are scheduled to be completed by 2013, Keskar said.In April, the US aircraft maker would deliver the first of the three VVIP aircraft to the Indian government, he said.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Nagpur, which Boeing is setting up along with Air India, is expected to take place by the middle of this year, he said.The third partner for the MRO has not yet been finalized, Keskar said.