Jetstar, which plans to use the aircraft on routes to Europe and the US, was aware that deliveries would be delayed but was expecting to receive its first plane in the second quarter of next year, reports The Australian.

It has since been told by Boeing that it will now not get them until the second half.

"At the end of the day it's obviously all predicated around the timing of first flight and how the program rolls from there," said Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway.

"But based on what they've outlined and when they project the first flight will be, it will be the latter half of 2010 at this point in time."

Jetstar was scheduled to have received the first of 15 planes last August, but a series of problems at Boeing have pushed delays towards the two-year mark.

The 787 is Jetstar's long-haul growth vehicle, and forms part of its ambitious plan to establish an Asian hub with services into southern European destinations such as Athens and Rome, and possibly as far as Germany.

Mr Westaway could not say when in the second half the airline expected its first plane.

"We're not going to put a month on it but obviously our planning is now around the latter half of 2010," he said.

The setback also has ramifications for the wider Qantas Group, which is the biggest airline customer for the 787, with 65 of the aircraft on firm order, and Air New Zealand, which is the launch customer for the bigger 787-9.

Air NZ has been told it will not get its planes until first quarter of 2013, two years after the original 2011 delivery date.

The delays are the result of a combination of factors that began with glitches with the US manufacturer's ambitious global outsourcing system.

The most recent delays stemmed from an the eight-week strike by machinists and a problem that meant thousands of fasteners used to attach titanium parts to composite structures needed to be replaced.

Read the full report in The Australian.