Plane's quiet visit to Perth

The world's quietist and most advanced commercial passenger plane, the 302-seat Boeing 787-9, will touch down in Perth for the first time this evening in the colours of Air New Zealand.

And the arrival is the first of many 787s to visit Perth soon, with Scoot to introduce the plane in the coming months.

Boeing's 787 is the first of a new breed of plane that boasts extraordinary environmental credentials cutting fuel consumption by 20 per cent and slashing noise around the airport.

Whereas the jet noise from the first 707s affected 86sqkm, the 787's noise footprint is almost confined to the airport boundary. The 787-9, Air New Zealand's first, is scheduled to touch down at 6.10pm.

Air New Zealand will operate the 787 daily between Auckland and Perth from October 15, and up to that date the airline will use the 787 on the route on an ad hoc basis.

The airline has ordered and optioned 18 787s and will get its second in two weeks.

Second to buy the 787, Air New Zealand is also the launch customer for the bigger 787-9 that carries 302 passengers in a four-class cabin.

The 787 is the first plane that can beat jet lag with higher cabin humidity levels, lower cabin altitude settings, reduced noise and a much smoother ride.

As well as these advances, the Air New Zealand 787 also features the world's most advanced in-flight entertainment system which does away with the handheld control.

Now passengers have all their controls on the seat back video screen - including light, flight attendant call button, sound level and brightness.

Also you can text the flight attendant for food or drinks and get an answer.

The IFE system has been designed in New Zealand in partnership with Panasonic and has an app-based touch screen system.