Boeing's Dreamliner could serve Jetstar flights shortly

[oz_mark]

INteresting article on the 787.

The first flight might be soon, and it looks like Jetstars planes have moved up the pecking order.

BOEING'S long-delayed Dreamliner could have its first test flight much earlier than expected.
Aviation sources suggest the 787 could fly for the first time at the end of the month, two months ahead of the US aircraft maker's schedule.

Boeing&squo;s Dreamliner could serve Jetstar flights shortly | Herald Sun


I wonder if this move to earlier in line for getting planes was behind the two A330's getting canned.

 

[pauly7]

Interesting... I wonder if it is still the plan to transfer JQ's A330's back to QF given all the goings on atm...


I wonder if JQ will take the opporunity to introduce a new 'Starclass' for the 787s as well - I mean it makes some kind of sense, it will be their long haul vehicle and eventually all the A330's will depart them...

 

[NM]

Interesting... I wonder if it is still the plan to transfer JQ's A330's back to QF given all the goings on atm...

I see no reason for the A330s not to go to QF. That has always been the plan in order to retire the 767s. Of course the timing will depend on the rate of 787 deliveries and the rate of JQ expansion. So may take a little while before the orange stars wiped off the A330s.

 

[Evan]

JQ only have 6 of the A332's so i would imagine these will be replaced by 6-8 787-8's rather soon.

QF has 22 of there own delivered 763's and 7 ex BA leased birds so i would presume 6 x A332's from JQ will allow the return of the ex-BA leased airframes soon (but i have heard they are very cheap for QF so who knows they may want to retire some of there own older ones first)

6 or 7 of the 767's are only 8-12 years old so i think they will be around rather a while yet, which is not such a bad thing, i don't mind flying on them at all. (short haul that is)
Speaking of these, there is still 8 i think dreamtime and old fabrics still in the fleet (flew one 2 days ago), i wonder if these will all be converted to millennium config soon ?

 

[bambbbam2]

I should have asked them while doing the boeing factory tour yesterday

They are cutting production, so that's not good news for the Seattle region.

 

[pauly7]

INteresting article on the 787.

The first flight might be soon, and it looks like Jetstars planes have moved up the pecking order.
.

Any dates floating around? All I could see was ANA in H1 2010, Air India in June.... Jetstar?

 

[Evan]

Any dates floating around? All I could see was ANA in H1 2010, Air India in June.... Jetstar?

At even half the rate they would like to ramp up i think it could be 2H 2010, then again first one has to fly
From 7-20 should be be produced quickly, actually half those should be complete by the time the testing is complete anyway.

 

[JohnK]

The question in my mind is Jetstar ready to handle the Dreamliner?

I think Jetstar will drop the ball. I am happy to be proven wrong....

 

[docjames]

The question in my mind is Jetstar ready to handle the Dreamliner?

I think Jetstar will drop the ball. I am happy to be proven wrong....

Que????

/ph/ please explain? /ph/

 

[JohnK]

Que????

/ph/ please explain? /ph/

With Jetstar due to receive the first 15 Dreamliners they will possibly have to start operating some new routes. USA, Asia, Europe? I think they will make a poor job of that quest as they have with the ever increasing number of international routes they no longer operate in their relatively short time of existence.

In my opinion Qantas is making a huge mistake giving Jetstar the first 15 Dreamliners. Airlines like VA, SQ, TG, EK, MH to name a few are just waiting to pounce. I am happy to be proven wrong....

 

[anat0l]

Didn't JQ have some rather ambitious ideas like flying to Europe, in particular locations in south Europe (e.g. Athens, Rome)? Heck, they might try and compete with D7 and fly to STN. Then there's also potential Transpac competition with VA, considering that they already have SYD-HNL.

The B787 doesn't offer more pax capacity compared to the current A330-200s operating in 2 class configuration on long haul. The only advantage is increased range. (No idea about maintenance/running costs).

Potential scenarios - this is by no means exhaustive and based on nothing except speculation:

• Add new routes with Dreamliners. Replace current 332 routes with Dreamliners, replace other international routes with 332s (either reconfig'ed to 1 class or left as 2 class), give remaining 322s to QF or increase frequency of services to other places or to compensate for QF on cut routes.
• Just add new routes with Dreamliners.
• Give some Dreamliners to QF to replace some ageing aircraft (747s?), then follow other plans....

Like JohnK mentioned though, the success of JQ pursuing new international markets is dubious. I'm not saying it won't or can't happen, but it is quite difficult to imagine.

 

[markh]

It has been on the news in Cairns about the reinstatement of Jetstar's CNS-KIX flights.

Jetstar Cairns to Japan flights take off- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au

Also an additional CNS-MEL return afternoon flight and on the cards is a destination to New Zealand from Cairns but can't find this quoted online.

Anyway there was also an article which I also can't find online about the Dreamliner:

Quote Cairns Post Dec 2nd 2009
Dreamliner Flights
One of the first airports to use Jetstar's new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft will be Cairns.
The 787 is not due until 2013 but it will be used on longer haul flights between Cairns and Japan.
Jetstar's Simon Westaway said the 787 would replace the airline's Airbus A330s.
He said 15 of the $250 million aircraft were on order as part of a Qantas Group order of 50 with the budget airline getting the first aircraft.
The long-awaited first flight is scheduled for the end of this year after structural problems were found during tests.