Wellington- Air New Zealand announced Thursday that it was seeking compensation from aircraft manufacturer Boeing over delays in delivering new 787-9 Dreamliners.

The airline, which is 76-per-cent owned by the government, said it had ordered eight of the new planes and expected the first to be delivered by the end of 2010, with the remainder by late 2013.

Boeing has now advised that the first aircraft would not be delivered until early 2012. The Dreamliners, as the planes are known, are designed to fly with farther range and much higher fuel efficiency than existing commercial aircraft.

"We are obviously very disappointed that in the current environment of high jet fuel prices, we will not be able to take advantage of the significantly improved economics that this aircraft will provide in the timeframes we initially expected," said chief financial officer Rob McDonald.

The airline said that four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft it had ordered were still expected to be delivered on schedule in 2010 and 2011. (dpa)