ANA Boeing 787 at Paine Field. Photo by David Parker Brown.
As 787s around the world return to the sky after the infamous battery incident, airlines work to get their aircraft back to full utilization. United Airlines resumed domestic services between its major hubs of Houston, Chicago & San Francisco, while Qatar Airways returned their Dreamliner to their short Dubai route before starting service back up to London. All Nippon Airways (ANA), which currently operates the largest 787 fleet of 18 aircraft, will start putting their 787s back to service starting June 1.
Prior to the battery incidents, ANA operates two Dreamliner flights to North America: Seattle (SEA) and San Jose (SJC). Once the grounding came into effect both routes were suspended and the industry speculated what would happen to the destinations. Other 787 services like Frankfurt & Beijing (both served from Tokyo Haneda) were changed to other aircraft to keep them active. Would SJC and SEA remain 787 destinations? Yes and no.
ANA employees bow to the arriving 787. Photo by Brandon Farris / AirlineReporter.com.
With the battery fix underway, ANA was able to firm up the resumption of service to some destinations. However due to the size of their 787 fleet it took a little longer than other airlinest. ’œWe are pleased to announce that our 787 aircraft will be reintroduced on scheduled flights from June onwards,” Osamu Shinobe, President and CEO of ANA, stated. “ANA’s priority is the safety of our passengers. Our engineers have worked closely with Boeing to undertake the required improvements and we are fully satisfied with the safety of our 787 fleet.’
With the date set, which routes would return? For North America the San Jose route will be the first back in service on the 1st of June with Seattle staying as a 777-300ER for the interim.
Seattle Residents will see a whole lot more of this aircraft. ANA’s first Boeing 777-300ER arrives to SEA on July 25th 2012 to a water cannon salute. Courtesy Port of Seattle/Don Wilson
Tokyo Haneda to Frankfurt (the first international 787 route operated by the airline) will return as well as Beijing. Akita to Tokyo Haneda will be the first route domestically in Japan to return to Dreamliner service, with more services offered later in the month.
The Seoul Incheon to Osaka and Nagoya will remain suspended. Although, ANA will introduce two new Dreamliner services to Taipei and Beijing from Narita.
New routes and services are nice and all, but what is the airline doing to encourage passengers to fly these routes? For the North America flights ANA is launching a new campaign to show just how good the 787 can be for connecting the small, thin routes to the rest of it’s network and how easy it is to connect in Narita.
For instance the San Jose flight touches down at Narita at 4pm and in less than two hours one can connect to other Asian destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok or India. Need to connect domestically? You are set with all the major bases covered as well.
An ANA 787 at the Boeing Everett Factory, prior to a test flight – Photo: Mal Muir | AirlineReporter.com
As part of the campaign, ANA is offering a Double Miles Promotion to sweeten the deal for those who fly on the San Jose route. The other portion of the campaign is the launch of the ANA Ambassador campaign.
Two #AvGeeks were chosen by ANA to take the first 787 flight out of San Jose on the 1st of June and then connect to Hong Kong. Who are these two lucky fliers? Well one of them is me (the other is Jason)!
So follow along on the 1st of June as we take to the skies and show the traveling public, that not only is the 787 back, but just what you can do with quick and easy connections from Japan to other parts of Asia. Follow us along via Twitter:
Tweets about “#anasjc”
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This story written by…Malcolm Muir, Lead Correspondent. Mal is an Australian Avgeek now living and working in Seattle. With a passion for aircraft photography, traveling and the fun that combining the two can bring. Insights into the aviation world with a bit of a perspective thanks to working in the travel industry.@BigMalX | BigMal’s World | Photos |  |
Qatar airways already used their 787s for longer flights (to Germany) this week
That one must of slipped past me. Thanks!
I’ll be out there taking pictures – I’ll tag you in the takeoff video.
I’ll make sure to wave… ill be in row 9 😀