Airlines

Qantas advances 787 deliveries (July 19 2010)

Qantas is bringing forward the delivery of eight Boeing 787s by two years to mid-2012, with the first batch of aircraft going to budget offshoot Jetstar.

The move is a partial clawback of delivery deferrals made last year due to the downturn and the well-publicised production issues.

The eight aircraft to be delivered from mid-2012 will all be 787-8s. The group’s total Dreamliner orderbook consists of 15 787-8s and 35 787-9s.



Jetstar is taking the first 15 deliveries, which will enable it to reach southern European airports such as Athens, Istanbul and Rome from its Singapore base, as well as other Asian destinations.

The Jetstar deliveries will also enable Qantas to transfer of Airbus A330-200s from Jetstar to Qantas and the retirement of Qantas Boeing 767-300ERs.

Jetstar will configure the B787-8 fleet for its low fare international operations to accommodate 313 passengers in two classes that includes its international business class, StarClass.

Qantas says that the mainline operation could end up using some of the 787s on high-traffic domestic routes. The announcement comes as Boeing gives an international debut to the Dreamliner, which will be the star attraction at the Farnborough Air show this week.

ZA003 arrived at the show on Sunday, landing in the UK in time for the opening of the Airshow. The airplane will be on static display for two days and fly home as the final pass of Tuesday’s flying display.