A Royal Brunei Airlines 787-8 on the Boeing factory flight line at Everett – Photo: Bernie Leighton
A new 787-8 rolled out of the Boeing Everett paint hangar recently that represented two new milestones – the aircraft is the first 787 headed to southeast Asia, and first delivered to Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA). Even better, it’s the first Boeing jet to sport RBA’s new livery.
Royal Brunei, based in the small southeast-Asian Sultanate of Brunei, has been around for quite some time. The airline formed in 1974 with a fleet of two Boeing 737-200s serving the surrounding region (Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia). As the airline expanded over time, so did the size of aircraft that they operated. They now run a regional Airbus A320-family fleet and a long-haul fleet of ex-Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200ERs. But soon they will be adding the 787 Dreamliner to their fleet.
Jetstar’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (VH-VKA) sits at Paine Field earlier today. Photo by Bernie Leighton.
Last weekend, the first of 14 Boeing 787 Dreamliners for the Qantas Group rolled out of the paint hangar at Paine Field. This aircraft will be heading to Jetstar Airways, a Qantas-offshoot low cost carrier (LCC). The delivery will be significant, since as of now Jetstar operates an all-Airbus fleet.
Jetstar currently operates the A320-family on short-haul routes around Australia, the South Pacific, and Asia, while running larger A330-200s on long-haul routes from Australia to Asia & Hawaii. The A330s are a mix of new aircraft and ex-Qantas birds. As the airline receives new 787s, they plan to transition their newer A330s into the legacy Qantas fleet.
Despite this being the first for Jetstar, Boeing has delivered over 100 aircraft to the Qantas Group, ranging from the original 707 up to the 747-400ER (of which they are the only operator of the passenger variant).
A party erupts during LAN’s first 787 delivery flight.
This is my favorite photo that I have taken. Maybe not the “best,” but my favorite because it tells a story. It was taken during LAN’s 787 delivery flight. After the meal service, it seemed like people were about to settle down and go to sleep. Instead, those LEDs went into “rainbow mode” and music starting going through the cabin.
Employees from the back of the plane came forward in costumes and handed out glow sticks, leis, hats and more. Everyone started singing in Spanish (a language I do not know), but it did not matter. This was truly one of the most amazing moments reporting for AirlineReporter.com and this is my favorite AvGeek photo.
Do you have a favorite AvGeek photo? Email it on over to me to da***@ai*************.com with a short description (about 100 words or less) on why this is your favorite photo. I might end up using it in a future story or for the #AvGeek Photo of the Week on Twitter and Facebook.
The ANA Business Staggered Seat. This is the “C” seat with the storage window side giving true Aisle access. Chose “A” if you love a true window seat.
During my ANA Ambassador trip, I was given the chance to fly three different types of All Nippon Airways (ANA) Business Class seats and I wanted to share my thoughts on them. For my story, I will be concentrating mostly on the hard product (the seat) vs the ’œsoft’ product (meals, service, amenities), which is common across all the aircraft.
The current generation of Business Class seats are fitted to ANA’s 787 as part of the Inspiration of Japan series. There are two different versions: international and domestic. The long haul (international) 787 seats are called ’œBusiness Staggered’ and are similar to a small pod. This is currently the airline’s premium product. The seats lie fully flat and, with a length of over 6ft, allows passengers to easily get some rest. The Business Staggered seats can also be found in some of ANA’s 777s (though the 777 version is slightly larger).
A view from the Singapore Flyer. Photo by Blaine Nickeson.
INTRODUCTION
Maybe it’s not to the extent of the regular contributors to this site, but I’m an #AvGeek. I love planes, airlines, and miles. But given my busy career, two toddlers, and a wife who thinks I’m crazy, I don’t get to participate in nearly as many adventures as I would like. My wife’s come a long way in supporting my habit; I think it may have had something to do with flying her to Europe this spring in Lufthansa First Class on miles. Maybe that helped lead to the amazing adventure I had recently.
I live in Denver, and I fly United Airlines (UA). There has been lots of local media coverage about the introduction of UA’s DEN-NRT flight, operated by the 787 Dreamliner, which started on June 10th (unfortunately that flight had an issue after having to divert back to Seattle).
This is a big deal for DEN, not so much because of the Dreamliner, but rather it’s our first nonstop to Asia. A few weeks ago my wife casually opened a can of worms, stating, ’œI looked at booking you on that Dreamliner flight for Father’s Day, but it was just too expensive. I know you really want to fly on a 787, and also need to re-qualify for your status-thingy.’ I, of course, sprung in to action trying to take advantage of this moment that was sure to be fleeting.
Long story short, I scored a ride on the (re)inaugural ANA 787 Dreamliner flight from San Jose (SJC) to Narita (NRT). To make the ticket cheaper (this logic fails me) I continued on to Singapore. Final routing was 19,000 miles; DEN-SJC-NRT-SIN-HKG-SFO-DEN, or about 39 hours in the air during a 77 hour period. Yes, I’m crazy, but it was worth it.
