It has been a long while since I have made a new post highlighting the many airline liveries we have now seen on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. These are all the liveries we have physically seen on the Dreamliner, so no computer composite images here:
We got to see United’s livery on the 787 for the first time yesterday. Image from United’s livestream.
Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ET-AOQ) taken in July 2012 by Tony Rodgers (aka Moonm) at Paine Field.
A big thanks to Tony Rodgers (moonm) for allowing me to use his Ethiopian 787 photo.
Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner seen at Farnborough in July 2012.
Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 Dreamliner taken in March 2012 at Paine Field.
JAL’s old livery on the 787 Dreamliner. Image by The Boeing Company.
ANA’s delivery livery, that showed up on the first two of their 787 Dreamliners. Taken at Paine Field.
ANA’s modified Dreamliner livery with the “787” on the side. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
The older ANA livery before the “787” was added to the side. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
Air India Boeing 787 taking off from Paine Field. Image by The Boeing Company.
China Southern’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Royal Air Maroc Dreamliner at Paine Field.
ZA003 at the Doha International Airport for the Dreamliner World Tour. Image by The Boeing Company.
ZA006 shows off the Dreamliner “light” livery. Image by The Boeing Company.
And where it all became. The Dreamliner livery seen on ZA001 on her maiden flight. Image by The Boeing Company.
So which one is your favorite? Your least favorite?
Qatar Airways first Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the tarmac at the Farnborough Airshow.
At the Farnborough Air Show, Qatar Airways showed off their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to an awestruck crowd.
When presenting the aircraft, Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker stated: ’œQatar Airways has been highly anticipating the arrival of our Boeing 787 aircraft at the Farnborough Air Show, and are proud to share this milestone with the world during the unveiling of our new Dreamliner.”
Welcome on board — entering the Qatar Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the first time.
I was excited to check out this Dreamliner. I have previously been in a few of ANA’s Boeing 787s and in one of JAL’s. How would Qatar’s 787 stack up?
Although ANA’s and JAL’s products were nice, Qatar really took the interior of their 787 to the next level — especially with their Business Class product.
The Business Class seats on the aircraft are laid out in a 1-2-1 format, where the 232 economy seats are in a 3-3-3 format.
Business Class seats on the Qatar Boeing 787 is very impressive.
This is the first Dreamliner we have seen in a 3-3-3 economy set up, where the ones previously have been a 2-4-2 layout. I was actually surprised how spacious the economy cabin felt, realizing that there was an extra seat in each row. I only sat in an economy seat for about a minute and it seemed fine, but a ten hour flight might be a bit different.
Each seat has an iTouch touch remote control, which accesses over 1000 entertainment options.
The Qatar economy is set up in a 9 abreast seating, but felt roomy.
The interior was quite impressive, but seeing Qatar’s Dreamliner flying at the airshow was even more so. Historically, Boeing has not flown any of their aircraft at the airshow, so this was a special treat.
Qatar’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes off.
Living just minutes away from Paine Field (where the 787 is built) I have seen plenty of 787 Dreamliners flying, but never like this. The 787 looked natural flying above Farnborough, completing aggressive maneuvers, showing off. Sure, there were no Tex Johnston style rolls, but it was still inspiring none-the-less.
It looked great on the ground, but a bit better in the air.
The 787 left Farnborough early to return back to Seattle to have the final touches done before being delivered to Qatar by early September. The airline has 60 787s on order and Boeing is expecting to deliver five of them to Qatar before the end of the year.
After delivery, Qatar plans to use their first 787 flying between Doha to London Heathrow.
ADDITIONAL QATAR AIRWAYS BOEING 787 PHOTOS (even more on Flickr):
[nggallery id=14]
From Qatar’s press release:
Baghdad, IRAQ ’“ Qatar Airways has in the span of just two weeks expanded passenger services to Iraq with the launch of its second destination in the country ’“ to the capital Baghdad.
The Doha-based airline is operating four-flights-a-week non-stop on the Baghdad route. Located on the banks of the Tigris River, Iraq’s capital is one of the Arab world’s largest cities.
The move comes just two weeks after Qatar Airways launched flights, also four-times-a-week, to the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.
Cargo traffic bound for Iraq will see a boost when Qatar Airways launches a dedicated weekly freighter service to Erbil, effective July 5.
Both the Erbil and Baghdad passenger services are being operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.
Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President GCC, Levant, Iran, Iraq and Indian Sub continent Fathi Al Shehab was onboard inaugural flight QR442 to Baghdad, which arrived at the city’s international airport to a traditional water salute welcome followed by an airport ceremony attended by local officials and media.
The addition of Baghdad takes Qatar Airways’ global network to 116 destinations worldwide. Qatar Airways’ passengers flying to Iraq from destinations across the Gulf, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Asia Pacific and The Americas can seamlessly connect via the airline’s Doha hub.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: ’œBaghdad had long been on our list of destinations which we identified as being a key part of growing our Middle East network.
’œDuring Iraq’s current period of reform and development, with industries resurging and many new companies expanding operations to Iraq, we felt this was the time to move into the country.
’œWith our new passenger flights to both Baghdad and Erbil, together with our new dedicated freighter service to Erbil starting next month, Qatar Airways is offering excellent capacity to and from the country.’
[nggallery id=3]
Cargolux Boeing 747-8F
Boeing was set to deliver their first 747-8F to Cargolux on September 19th, but at the last minute, the Luxembourg-based cargo company put the deal on hold and the delivery was postponed. Both Boeing and Cargolux kept quiet and rumors started about the reasoning behind this odd business maneuver. According to Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, who has a 35% stake in Cargolux, the issues stem from the 747-8F being 2.7% less fuel efficient than advertised. Al Baker stated that the issues causing the airline to back out of accepting delivery are related to GE, who built the engines on the 747-8F, and not Boeing. At this point, Cargolux is expected to take ownership of their first 747-8F on October 12th, pending the airlines board approving during their meeting on October 7th.
During a Boeing 777 delivery event for Qatar Airways, Al Baker was asked about Cargolux and their handling of the situation. ’œUnfortunately, the management of Cargolux did not take the action they should have taken during the process of the aircraft acceptance,’ Al-Baker stated according to Bloomberg. ’œAs we sit on the board of Cargolux, we have full right to object if we find something is not fair as far as Cargolux is concerned.’
One of the loudest rumors about this deal was that Qatar Airways was holding Cargolux’s 747-8F hostage for a better compensation deal on their 787 Dreamliners. However, Al Baker clearly stated that the Cargolux 747-8F delay has nothing to do with compensation for the 787 Dreamliner. ’œThe issue really with this aircraft has nothing to do with Boeing. It has to do with an issue that we had with the engine manufacturer,’ Al Baker said according to the Seattle PI. ’œThis issue has been resolved’ subject to board approval.
GE has already announced that they are working on a Performance Improvement Package (PIP) for the the GEnx-2B engine found on the 747-8. The package is not slated to be ready until mid-2013.
Even with all the issues that Qatar and Cargolux have recently had with Boeing, according to ArabianBusiness.com, Al-Baker described his relationship with Boeing as strong, ’œdespite a few hiccups along the way.” At this point, it is not certain what the delivery celebration will entail and Boeing is waiting until after the October 7th board meeting to announce any plans.
Image: ImperfectSense
We still do not know much about what has caused Cargolux to pull out of taking delivery of their first new Boeing 747-8Fs.
As announced last week, Cargolux refused to take delivery of their first two Boeing 747-8 Freighters. They were supposed to take delivery of their first one yesterday and their second one tomorrow, but at this point no one is sure when the deliveries will occur.
Not many people are talking about what is going on. Boeing told me via email, “Nothing new to report. Same status as Friday,” which means, “We have unresolved issues between ourselves and Cargolux. We are working with our customer to determine a date for delivery.” Luckily for us, some journalists have received “insider” information that puts some light on what is going on between Boeing and Cargolux.
At the beginning of this controversy, some thought this might have something to do with the Boeing 747-8F not living up to performance expectations. It appears that performance issues might have something to do with this, but it might be more politically motivated.
Scott Hamilton, with Flightglobal, is reporting that Qatar Airways, who recently purchased a 35% stake in Cargolux, is requiring additional compensation for delays to their Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Previously Qatar and Boeing had an agreement on that compensation, but it appears that Qatar might be looking for a better deal. According to Hamilton’s sources, “Qatar’s chief executive Akbar Al-Baker views the compensation for Cargolux as setting a benchmark for the sum due for the delays to Qatar’s 787s.”
Hamilton is also reporting that that another, unnamed, Boeing 747-8F customer is looking for changes in their contracts. Originally they were slated to take delivery of the first test aircraft (presumably at a lower price), but now are wanting aircraft that will not require re-working after they take delivery.
It seems unlikely that this dispute would only revolve around the Boeing 747-8’s performance issues, since Boeing has been forthcoming about the aircraft’s additional weight for quite some time. In an email to the Puget Sound Business Journal Boeing stated, “It’s misleading to say we missed our specifications. After we set our original specification, we completely redesigned the wing, which is significantly heavier, but more than makes up for that in increased aerodynamic efficiency and lower fuel burn.’
In a press release, issued by Cargolux, they confirmed that they are working with Boeing to resolve contract issues, but are ready to move forward with leasing additional aircraft if needed. “In the event that the issues cannot be resolved in a timely manner, Cargolux will source alternative capacity to fully meet customer demand and expectations ahead of the traditional high season.”
Jon Ostrower on Flightglobal is reporting that delivery of Cargolux’s two 747-8Fs during the week of September 19th-24th is, “highly unlikely.” It doesn’t seem anyone (even Boeing and Cargolux) are sure when the aircraft might be delivered.
Yesterday, Brandon Farris caught a Cargolux Boeing 747-400 landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). It is not unusual to see Cargolux aircraft at SEA, but the timing was a bit off from when they usually fly in. This particular aircraft runs between Mexico (MEX), Atlanta (ATL), New York (JFK), Houston (IAH), and Luxembourg (LUX), but not Seattle. I assume that this 747-400 picked up cargo at SEA that the first Cargolux Boeing 747-8F was supposed to deliver to Luxembourg (where Cargolux is head quartered).
At first, it appeared that Boeing might come off looking like the bad one in this conflict, but if the rumors of Qatar Airways strong arming Boeing into a better deal for the 787s at the expense of Cargolux not receiving their 747-8Fs, then Boeing might not coming off looking so poorly.
I will be sure to keep you all updated as new information surfaces.
UPDATE 1:
Guy Norris, with Aviation Week, goes into detail on what the Boeing 747-8F is lacking as far as performance (thanks @mtrumpbour for pointing this out). He states that there is a 2.7% greater fuel burn than expected. GE is working on a fuel savings package for their GEnx-2B engines on the 747-8F, but those will not be completed until 3rd quarter 2013 and are only expected to improve fuel consumption by 1.6%.
Norris states that Qatar Airway’s deal to purchase a 35% stake occurred in June, 2011, but it took three months to be ratified by the governments of each country. This happened only a few days before the 747-8F deliveries were to take place.
Ostrower, who is currently in Seattle for the 747-8F delivery, caught Boeing doing some interesting 747-8F moving around today at Paine Fieldand posted on his Flickr.
UPDATE 2 9/21 7:30am:
Matt Cawby with KPAE Blog is reporting that one of Cargolux’s Boeing 747-8Fs (LX-VCB) went on a customer test flight, meaning the airline’s pilots were on board. This normally is a sign that Boeing is getting close to delivery. Cawby is hearing rumors that the first aircraft might deliver Tuesday September 27th.
Firdaus Hashim on Flighglobal is reporting that Cathay Pacific Airways is “satisfied” with their 747-8Fs, which they are expected to take delivery of in October. “Cathay Pacific’s commercial arrangements with all its suppliers, including Boeing, are confidential. However, we are satisfied that our commercial arrangements with Boeing take account of the known and disclosed specification and performance characteristics of the aircraft,” said Hong Kong’s flag carrier in a statement.
Thanks to Marshall Autry (Vintage Racer) for letting me use his photo.
