A new featherless bird may soon be soaring the skies, and a company based in Wrexham will be helping it. Tritech will be providing components for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s engines’ heat management system. The Welsh company, which employs around 200 people, already supplies over 800 parts to Boeing’s rival Airbus.

Tritech’s Commercial Director Alan Dustan said that the deal with Boeing was secured after attending Japan’s JA2004 Airshow with International Business Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government’s international trade arm.

The 787 Dreamliner is Boeing’s first all-new jet since 1995. It is the only big commercial aircraft made mostly of carbon fiber rather than aluminum, and it is much more fuel efficient than its competitors, producing 20% less CO2. It is the most environmentally friendly plane ever built. The Dreamliner’s first test flight is scheduled for August or September, and 600 orders have already been placed for the airliner.

The words “environmentally friendly” were what actually caught my attention in this story. Flying causes a lot of pollution, and it’s wonderful that Boeing is addressing this issue. Hopefully all subsequent aircraft will be built and designed with the environment in mind, and in the near future we can all reduce our carbon footprints significantly, not only in traveling but in everything we do as well.