Qantas Orders 65 Boeing 787s.

[planemad2]

Qantas has become the largest purchaser of the world's fastest selling twin-aisle aircraft, ordering 65 240-290 seat Boeing 787s worth $7.6 billion.

The aircraft is capable of flying between Perth and London non-stop with a full passenger payload.

Perth will be a major hub for the 787s which will be used by Qantas to Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne replacing the A330s and Boeing 767s.

The order comes after firming up options for 20 of the aircraft, which were part of a commitment announced on December 14 last year. Qantas also has purchase rights for 50 787s.

The signing ceremony was a highlight of celebrations to mark the airline's Sydney-San Francisco inaugural flight, and attended by Alan Mulally, President of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Peter Gregg, Chief Financial Officer of Qantas. At the signing, the Hon. Andrew Peacock, AC, President of Boeing Australia said that he expected the entire 787 program to be worth $4 billion to Australian industry.

The first four 787s will be delivered to Jetstar International in July 2008 with another 28 to follow for Jetstar and Qantas by 2011. Qantas will get its first 787 in mid 2009.

Boeing has so far booked 386 orders from 28 airlines around the world.

Building the 787 is the world's largest industrial program and is being undertaken at 132 sites around the world including Australia.

[soldier of fortune]

but how many are really going to qantas mainline :confused:

[Capt Fathom]

Wasn't this announced in December 2005?

[oldhasbeen]

but how many are really going to qantas mainline :confused:
.............just a guess but for mine , zilch

[Taildragger67]

Wasn't this announced in December 2005?

I'd suggest this is the contractual stage; just turning what was announced into a firm, binding contract. So not a new order per se.

[Going Boeing]

Current plans are for 77 B787's to go to mainline starting in 2009 in a mixture of domestic (-8's) and international (-8's & -9's) configurations to replace the B767's and provide for growth. 10 B787-8 to go to Jetstar International from 2008 to replace the interim A330-200's (6).

These are the current plans and as we all know, they are subject to change.

[the shaman]

so who will do heavy maint on these birds.... will they come with total care package looked after by 'Boeing goldcare' or perhaps Jetstar Engineering will bid for this work after the next Qantas EBA expires. Interesting times ahead..

[Pedota]

Soldier of Fortune asks how many 787's are going to the 'mainline' - I'm asking is Jet* now the mainline?

[Capn Bloggs]

so who will do heavy maint on these birds....

They're plastic. They don't need maintenance! :D

[AIRWAY]

Can't complain about (plastic) Airbus from now on :} :E

[Redstone]

10 B787-8 to go to Jetstar International from 2008 to replace the interim A330-200's (6).
These are the current plans and as we all know, they are subject to change.

I think the figure is 4 -200's

[MarkD]

going boeing

any word on whether the leased BA 767s are going back first or whether owned 767s are going first?

[Silverado]

4 QF -200's + 2 leased -200's = 6

mainline may also see all 6 return to fleet, once Jet* are done with them.

[Going Boeing]

MarkD

I don't have the specifics but I understand that the ex BA B767's lease was renewed for a second five year term (don't know when that expires). It's probable that they will be amonst the first B767's to be retired.

Redstone

Silverado's response is correct. 2 additional A330-200's are to be leased in addition to the 4 ex QF aircraft. There is the possibility of a further two being leased which will mean a total of 8 aircraft returning to mainline once Jetstar starts getting their B787 deliveries.

The Shaman

I don't know anything about the plans for maintenance of these aircraft, but I've heard that Boeing have specified 12 years betweeen "D" checks because of the "plastic" fuselages. This would mean significantly lower maintenance requirements compared to current technology aircraft.

[Veruka Salt]

MarkD

The BA 767s have been leased until 2012. Given the timeframe for delivery of the 787s I imagine the leased 767s will be the last to go.

[MarkD]

thanks all

[soldier of fortune]

i'm a bit confused:confused: --lets see- b787 aircraft crewed by jetstar at a lower labour cost -and qf mainline b787 aircraft crewed at a higher labour cost- why would Dixion want any b787 aircraft operated by qf-when he could run them cheeper via j* i think you might find that the only b787s qf will be operating may be a dozen or so on qf domestic

[boeingwest]

Whats the difference between the OG? and ZX? series 763's @ QF other than the extra doors and rolls vs. GE? Are the ZX? series (ex BA) newer than the original QF ones? I just wondered whether boeing made these changes (extra doors etc.) or it was a customer (BA) request? From a techie side, whcih is a better machine to fly? Many operational differences between the 2? Cheers.

[Going Boeing]

SoF

Probably because of two reasons.

1. The Qantas product is still a very saleable item as distinct from Jetstar (eg sleeper busines class seats versus upright "domestic" style business class seats).

2. They know that they will struggle to get enough pilots for the 10 planned aircraft on the pay and conditions recently agreed by the JPC.

[blueloo]

Diff b/w RR and GE 767s

I think generally a similar age - the BA 767s were 7 yrs old when QF got them, so they must now be around 13-14 yrs old - the newest of QFs 300s was OGV, which turned up in 2000. (Might be with Aust now)

RRs are limited to lower weights - presume this is a QF imposed limitation to avoid landing charges. Some of the GEs go up to MTOW of 185 tonnes, the RRs around 154 tonnes.

The RRs were regarded as sloppy in the controls on rotate. Not sure why or if it has been fixed. They also had a piss poor weather radar which the GEs didnt have - I think QF retrofitted new radars to the RRs because it was such an issue.

The RRs had FADEC engines - symetric thrust levers!

RRs used EPR

RRs had an expandable range TCAS on the VSI.


I preferred the GEs. They leapt of the ground even at 185 tonnes.

Internally, most GEs had international Business class. THe RRS had that pissy semi domestic business class, now looking very tired.

I am sure there are other diffs.

[MarkD]

boeingwest - I understand years back BA always asked for bags of BA-specific stuff but these days are more conscious of the 2nd hand market and don't as much.

[Going Boeing]

Boeing West

The B767 door configuration is customer specified. The extra doors on the ex BA aircraft allow a faster egress of pax in an emergency therfore the max pax load of those aircraft is higher. The passageway at the extra doors takes up valuable floor area so to actually achieve the extra pax capability means jamming the seats in at a very uncomfortable seat pitch (Brittania Airways did charters to Aust with B767's configured with 320 seats - would make you consider paying a little more to fly on an aircraft with reasonable seat pitch).

The QF B763's (GE powered) with 4 main doors at the ends of the pax cabin and over wing exits are the best configuration for us as even with the domestic configured aircraft, they are still approx 20 pax short of the allowable max. The all economy configured aircraft flying for AO get close to the max allowable.

After the first five GE B763's had been delivered, the option for the FADEC version of the GE engine became available. For comonality reasons, it was decided to continue ordering the standard engine. When QF acquired the second hand B744's (1 from Asiana & 2 from Malaysian) which had the FADEC GE engines, it was decided to order the last (22nd) B763 (VH-OGV flying with AO) with FADEC engines. It is noticably quieter in the cabin of this aircraft but I don't know if this is because of FADEC. This aircraft has a number of other differences ie the leading edge devices are the new version designed for the B767-400.

Back to the original thread - It will be interesting which engine QF specifies for the B787. The size of the order means that the two manufacturers will agressively try to get the order. There is a possibility of further engines of the same type required if QF order the B747-8.