Qantas to fly first Boeing 787 in October 2017

Yes, Velocity CEO Karl Schuster is speaking later this afternoon. Alan Joyce is also scheduled to present tomorrow morning.

Hey Chris do you know if Malindo Air is speaking, rumored to be announcing KUL-DPS-BNE/MEL?

and if so when 

log0008: If there's news to report on Malindo Air, we'll report it. If not, we won't.

hopefully Alan will give us more of a sneak peak at what type economy the 787s will have?

Not today.

Tiger Air CEO also speaking this afternoon. 

Qantas will manage their upgrade availability based on route demand and dynamics, coupled with any consumer compliance obligation, not simply number of seats in cabin.    Similarly, their overbooking profile (thus Ops-Up opportunities) will be based on the historic no-show factor on the cabin, the day of operation and the overall route or its estimate, plus regularity of schedule, (for example daily vs only several times weekly.)    Don't hold a high expectation!

and we live in hope QF will drop those outragious award fees and charges at some point.

and between 20-25 for up to an extra 8.5 aircraft extra (235 seats) o the basis of number seats compared to the current 350~seater 747s. 

Any aircraft with Y seats is uncomfortable for long haul international. Difficult to sleep with your knees hard up against the seat in front.

It's an awesome plane to fly in, the 787 is a cut above the rest, but Boeing can't tell airlines how to configure their seats etc... 

What would you prefer, tiger airways A320 or an Air New Zealand A320? Same aircraft, very different seat and service!

I'd prefer the airline and the onboard product (holistically). I would not go out of my way to fly 787, ceteris paribus.

All things remaining equal, the only time i would choose a particular aircraft over another in Y, if it is an A380 with Y cabin on the upper deck. The reason for the choice is the 2-4-2 layout and the side cabinets at the window seats.

The 787 only offers supposedly, better cabin atmosphere and a gimicky window shade feature, which has the potential to put you out of control on drawing the window shades due to the override function by the cabin crew.

But that's the point, not all airlines with a380's have y on the upper deck with that configuration, same aircraft different experience/comfort.

But the 787 is a great experience, no question about it.

Nope.

I have flown on several 787s now and without a doubt the "supposed" cabin pressure difference to the old fashioned jets makes a huge difference.  I fly from Sydney to London 4 - 5 per year using a variety of airlines, my last trip with VN had a 787 from Vietnam to the UK and I can say I felt more refreshed than normal after that flight distance. I think if you asked the cabin crew of airlines with the 787 and A380 in their fleets you would find there is a preference to the 787.

3-3-3 economy configuration is terrible though, JAL is one of the few (maybe only) airlines that does 2-4-2 in their 787 economy class, people don't fly them because the airfares are $11 more than the cheap airlines (I'm being a little sarcastic btw). It always amazes me how people moan about seat pitch and width but won't do a little research and pay a little more to support the airlines that don't pack everyone in like sardines.

JAL and ANA were the first airlines to get 787s. They put in 8 across because that's what Boeing designed the aircraft for.

When other airlines started getting their orders and put in 9 across, ANA changed their fleet.

When JAL started updating seats, they kept it at 8 across and are now the only airline that has 8 across in their 787s. They are using it as a selling point.

Melbourne Tullamarine..... Try building a rail link for it to be taken seriously.  

BNE/DFW ?

We had DFW/BNE until QF switched from 744 to A380

I'd suggest the 3-3-3 configuration that Qantas will go for, will contribute to a fair few number of those seats.. it's like an extra 5 rows. 

nikojas, I completely agree with you. Y on the QF 789 isn't going to be anything to write home about. Maybe the seat pitch will be 32-33, up from the average 31, but I bet that's about it. Ultimately, it's just not worth airlines to provide extra comfort in Y and hope to charge a premium; essentially, Economy Plus is this exact premium charge scheme for greater pitch, yet you look at any booking map a month out and you can guarentee normal Economy will be twice as full as Plus. I'm honestly surprised that JAL continues to opearte their 787s with a 2-4-2 in the back. It's great to fly with them but, they don't even promote themselves as the only airline doing that, and their Y fares are comparable to everyone else who does 3-3-3 (or 3-4-3 on a 777). I'm guessing they've just decided that a retrofit would cost even more than the added revenue. Overall though, it's a disappointment that all future Boeing widebodies will have narrow seats and average pitch unless you pay for exit rows or Plus seats... I for one would actually go out of my way to fly Airbus widebodies for this reason, but I'm pretty positive I'm a small minority. And of course, this is all moot if you're in the front of the plane for those who can so! :)

I agree, the 350 is a great aircraft............and more comfortable.

Perth LHR seems to have dropped off the earlier route options mentioned, but it will be a monopoly (as they wish) and make sense esecially for Adelaide and Canberra Connections. One less stop on QF metal. 

I would love it if there was a direct flight from PER-LHR. Could do the connection in Australia rather than somewhere overseas on the way. Would want the cost to be similar to MEL/SYD-LHR though.

Come to think of it, it would be nice if sometimes there was an international QANTAS flight from MEL/SYD to PER then onto LHR so one  would already be airside in the international terminal when arriving in Perth.

I'd bet BNE - DFW is on the list since it would be a monopoly route, help prove the 787-9s ETOPS credentials to CASA, and would give QF a second North American destination out of Virgin Australia's home turf.

Were they to do this, we'd expect the 747 serving BNE-LAX-JFK get downgauged to a 787 as well, for capacity reasons.

Hear Hear..but what chance with Sydney-centric Qantas ?

Longer term I hope Qantas needs something larger than the 787 (777X or A350) hopefully they will operate out of Sydney while the 787's can focus on the other ports (MEL, BNE, etc)

The 787 has less seats than the 747 so to carry the same load they would need more flights. If they do more flights presumably some of the extra ones could go directly between MEL and  SFO. Maybe once or twice a week.

From my understanding, in addition to the 789s, QANTAS is currently weighing up whether to go with the 777X or the A350 as its future large capacity flagship product. Most airlines still have reliance on at least one of the 4-engined craft, Cathay and AA being noteable exceptions, so its hard to see within the next decade, based on current technologies, QANTAS having neither the A380 or the B747.

Important enough for you to comment 

If you had said that two years ago it would have made sense. QF has been making a lot of improvements recently just have a look at the new J class and all the lounges they have in the works. 

Wow.....am I supposed to be impressed how ignorant you are to different airlines in different countries with different circumstances (geography/wages/and so many other factors) having different business models.?? Just to name a few! lol

Ah Qantas bashing, Is it an Olympic sport? I think the 787 will be a great product, and Qantas will go to the next level with this product. Keep an eye out for an A380 refurb. Hats off to AJ who everyone loves to bag out, but Qantas has transformed itself as a business, and now the hard product is doing is being transformed because the business itself has strengthened and is profitable.

Shoudy I expect the 787-10 will replace the A333 on Asian routes. Same seating capacity and range but cheaper to run. This will be from 2022 or so though.