titansox
Well-Known Member
Finally, there is a concrete date for the first commercial flight of Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft.
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) says its first commercial flight on the 787 will come Oct. 26 on a round-trip charter trip between Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong.
Following another set of Hong Kong "excursion" flights, ANA will put the 787 into regularly scheduled service beginning Nov. 1 on routes between Tokyo Haneda and the Japanese destinations of Okayama and Hiroshima.
ANA also announced plans for its first long-haul route for the 787, saying it plans to begin Tokyo Narita-Frankfurt service with the jet in January 2012.
That route is a joint venture route between ANA and Lufthansa, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, which (among other things) will allow customers on the 787 route to connect to onward destinations either via Frankfurt or via Tokyo Narita. Each airport is a major hub within the Star Alliance frequent-flier group. Frankfurt is the top hub for ANA's Star Alliance partner Lufthansa.
Frankfurt, however, will not be the first regularly scheduled (non-charter) international route for the 787. That will be Beijing, where ANA says it will deploy the 787 about once a week on the route to Tokyo Haneda beginning in December.
As for the Hong Kong debut, The Herald of Everett, Wash., says ANA plans a "special charter" departing Tokyo on Oct. 26 with a return on Oct. 27. Additionally, the Herald says "ANA will fly 787 'excursion flights' on Oct. 28 and 29, departing from and arriving back to Tokyo, to allow interested travelers to experience the Dreamliner.' "
BLOOMBERG NEWS: Boeing's Dreamliner is 'Like dinner in the anaconda'
As for the Frankfurt route, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the "Frankfurt service will start with three flights a week and then move to daily flights in February."
The flight details emerged after "Boeing said Tuesday (via) Twitter that a certification event (for the 787) will be held Friday," The Associated Press writes.
FlightGlobal.com's Jon Ostrower says that's when Boeing will receive the "U.S. Federal Aviation Administration type and productions certificates" for the 787, which will pave the way for the delivery of the first Dreamliner to ANA.
The Wall Street Journal writes ANA "expects the fuel-efficient aircraft to give it an edge in the intensifying fray with low-cost carriers flying to Japan while fuel costs remain high. The 787 is 20% more fuel-efficient than its current equivalents. ANA is scheduled to receive the first B787 in the last 10 days of September, with 12 more to be collected by the end of March."
The first flight dates, of course, would bring to an end a series of long delays that have plagued the production of the ballyhooed jet. ANA, which had originally expected to receive its first Dreamliner three years ago, is the largest 787 customer with 55 on order, according to the Morning Hearld.
The Seattle Times notes Boeing's delays to the 787 model follow "problems with the new composite materials and the global production system. Still, it ... is sold out through 2019."
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/08/boeing-787-flight-dates/416538/1
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) says its first commercial flight on the 787 will come Oct. 26 on a round-trip charter trip between Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong.
Following another set of Hong Kong "excursion" flights, ANA will put the 787 into regularly scheduled service beginning Nov. 1 on routes between Tokyo Haneda and the Japanese destinations of Okayama and Hiroshima.
ANA also announced plans for its first long-haul route for the 787, saying it plans to begin Tokyo Narita-Frankfurt service with the jet in January 2012.
That route is a joint venture route between ANA and Lufthansa, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, which (among other things) will allow customers on the 787 route to connect to onward destinations either via Frankfurt or via Tokyo Narita. Each airport is a major hub within the Star Alliance frequent-flier group. Frankfurt is the top hub for ANA's Star Alliance partner Lufthansa.
Frankfurt, however, will not be the first regularly scheduled (non-charter) international route for the 787. That will be Beijing, where ANA says it will deploy the 787 about once a week on the route to Tokyo Haneda beginning in December.
As for the Hong Kong debut, The Herald of Everett, Wash., says ANA plans a "special charter" departing Tokyo on Oct. 26 with a return on Oct. 27. Additionally, the Herald says "ANA will fly 787 'excursion flights' on Oct. 28 and 29, departing from and arriving back to Tokyo, to allow interested travelers to experience the Dreamliner.' "
BLOOMBERG NEWS: Boeing's Dreamliner is 'Like dinner in the anaconda'
As for the Frankfurt route, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the "Frankfurt service will start with three flights a week and then move to daily flights in February."
The flight details emerged after "Boeing said Tuesday (via) Twitter that a certification event (for the 787) will be held Friday," The Associated Press writes.
FlightGlobal.com's Jon Ostrower says that's when Boeing will receive the "U.S. Federal Aviation Administration type and productions certificates" for the 787, which will pave the way for the delivery of the first Dreamliner to ANA.
The Wall Street Journal writes ANA "expects the fuel-efficient aircraft to give it an edge in the intensifying fray with low-cost carriers flying to Japan while fuel costs remain high. The 787 is 20% more fuel-efficient than its current equivalents. ANA is scheduled to receive the first B787 in the last 10 days of September, with 12 more to be collected by the end of March."
The first flight dates, of course, would bring to an end a series of long delays that have plagued the production of the ballyhooed jet. ANA, which had originally expected to receive its first Dreamliner three years ago, is the largest 787 customer with 55 on order, according to the Morning Hearld.
The Seattle Times notes Boeing's delays to the 787 model follow "problems with the new composite materials and the global production system. Still, it ... is sold out through 2019."
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/08/boeing-787-flight-dates/416538/1
