Boeing South Carolina breaks ground on 787 site expansion

Boeing on November 7, 2025 marked the groundbreaking of its Boeing South Carolina (BSC) site expansion. Home of the 787 Dreamliner program, BSC is set to increase production to a rate of 10 airplanes per month in 2026. The new expansion will allow the site to support higher 787 production rates given strong market demand.

A rendering of Boeing’s Second 787 Final Assembly Building when complete (Credit: Boeing)

In late 2024, Boeing announced plans to expand and upgrade its site near Charleston International Airport and a second campus. The company is investing more than $1 billion in this infrastructure program and plans to create more than 1,000 new jobs over the next five years. The expansion will include:

A new final assembly building similar in size to the current final assembly building, which is roughly 1.2 million square feet, and will include airplane production positions, production support and office space.

A parts preparation area facility, a vertical fin paint facility, Flight Line stalls and more at the Airport Campus.

Additions to the Interiors Responsibility Center, where many of the 787’s interior components are made.

The construction effort will employ more than 2,500 people with over 6.2 million construction hours from the joint venture of HITT Contracting and BE&K Building Group.

Ninety customers from around the world have placed more than 2,250 orders for the 787 Dreamliner family, making it the best-selling widebody passenger airplane of all time.

After more than 1,200 deliveries, the 787 backlog stands at nearly 1,000 airplanes, including more than 300 orders added just this year. In all, the commercial aviation industry is expected to need more than 7,800 new widebody airplanes over the next two decades, according to Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook.

For more than a decade, BSC has been the home of the full 787 Dreamliner production cycle. Teammates fabricate, assemble and deliver the three Dreamliner models – 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 – to customers around the world. The company established operations in South Carolina in 2009 and currently employs more than 8,200 people across its campuses in North Charleston and in Orangeburg.

Boeing 787-8 slide show: