Airlines Qantas receives first Boeing 787-9

“It [Boeing 787] gives us a combination of flying range and passenger comfort that will change how people travel. “, Joyce says.

VH-ZNA is the first of eight ordered 787-9 Dreamliners and will be initially used for domestic passenger services to assist with crew familiarization. The first long-haul service is planned in December, connecting Melbourne with Los Angeles.

Furthermore, Qantas plans to serve Perth – London Heathrow from March 2018, finally marking a direct air link between Australia and Europe. That flight will join up with the LAX route, to serve London – Perth - Melbourne - Los Angeles. Two Dreamliners are used to replace the Boeing 747 service on Brisbane – Los Angeles – New York JFK.

Until the end of 2018, all eight 787-9 will be delivered to Qantas. The first 4 will be based in Melbourne, while the other batch of four will be based in Brisbane.

Qantas 787-9s will seat 236 passengers, which are significantly fewer seats than other operators, who have configured their 787-9 with over 300 seats. There is no first class, but 42 seats in business class (1-2-1 configuration), 28 seats in premium economy (2-3-2 configuration) and 166 seats in economy (3-3-3 configuration).

The state-of-the art cabin will take passenger comfort to the next level, Joyce claims: „We’re working with sleep specialists, dieticians and other scientists at the University of Sydney to see how adjustments to our inflight service can improve wellbeing and help people adjust to new time zones.”

Qantas was founded in 1920 and is the Australian flag carrier. The mainline fleet measures 124 aircraft, serving 86 destinations on 179 routes around the globe.