Join in on the fun on Tues and then again on Thurs mornings. Image from United.
Tomorrow morning at 5:00am PT (yes, hecka early), United’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will come out of the paint hangar, with its special livery. For those of you who will be awake at that time (it is still iffy if I will make it up that early), you can follow along with a live feed being provided by United Airlines.
On Thursday, media will be invited to check out the new interior of United’s Dreamliner and be sure to follow along on my Twitter and Facebook.
The 787 is not quite at Seattle — yet. Image from ANA.
On Wednesday, All Nippon Airways (ANA) started their inaugural service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) using a Boeing 777-300ER. Now, there is nothing wrong with the 777, but it was supposed to be using the 787 Dreamliner.
In the image above, the most interesting statement is the “Will introduce the Boeing 787 Drealiner on Seattle-Narita when it is ready.” The “it” in that statement is not the route — since it is more than ready for a 787. The “it” is talking about the Dreamliner that has not yet been delivered to ANA. For now, the airline is expecting to use the 777 until October 2012.
Earlier this year, the fifth 787 test aircraft, ZA005, made a quick visit to SEA, preparing the airport to start scheduled service for the Dreamliner.
ANA’s first Boeing 777-300ER arrives to SEA on July 25th to a water cannon salute. Courtesy Port of Seattle/Don Wilson.
When arriving for the first time, ANA’s Boeing 777-300ER was not only greeted by a water cannon salute by the airport’s fire department, but there was also a celebration in the terminal with a children’s taiko drumming group and a ceremonial sake cask-breaking.
’œANA’s decision to be here reinforces Seattle’s status as a global gateway,’ said Port of Seattle Commissioner Rob Holland. ’œOur mission is to create jobs by advancing trade and commerce, which in turn stimulates economic development. ANA will be another driver for this mission for the entire region.’
Port CEO Tay Yoshitani, Port of Seattle Commissioner Rob Holland, Washington State Govenor Christine Gregoire, ANA Senior Executive Vice President Keisuke Okada, ANA Senior Vice President, The Americas Yuji Hirako, General Manager, Seattle Toshio Nomura, all at the inaugural event. Courtesy Port of Seattle/Don Wilson.
ANA flight NH1077 leaves Seattle at 1:15pm each day and arrives to Narita at 3:45pm the next day. Flight NH1078 leaves Narita at 5:25pm and arrives to Seattle at 10:55am the same day (have to love arriving 6.5hrs before you left).
The initial Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is configured with a total of 247 seats (85 business class, 162 economy). ANA will configure their 787 on the route with 158 seats ’“ 46 business class seats and 112 economy.
United Airlines, a Star Alliance partner of ANA, currently operates a daily flight from SEA to NRT using a Boeing 777-200 and it will be interesting to see if both airlines can be successful on the route. Previously, United Airlines has stated that they have, ’œNo changes planned,” for their route.
ADDITIONAL STUFF ON ANA’S FIRST FLIGHT TO SEATTLE:
* Video of the water cannon salute
* B-Roll YouTube video of the event
* Washington Governor Christine Gregoire speaking at the event
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):
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United Airline’s special livery for their Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Image from United.
United Airlines has shown off a special livery that will be seen on their Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The swooping gold-line livery is inspired by the Dreamliner livery that Boeing designed and is United’s way of celebrating the two company’s long history together. The special livery will be seen on the entire United 787 fleet.
It is a slick looking livery, but a bit disappointing. I have been hoping from the beginning that United would do something special for their first 787. Although, I had a feeling that if they would do something special, it wouldn’t be radical, since the globe is a new brand for United and they wouldn’t want to cause more confusion about their brand.
The interior cabin will use blues and grays, which are consistent with the airline’s newer aircraft today. The 787 will also debut a new in-flight entertainment system that according to United will offer, “more intuitive browsing and more filtering options.”
To start preparations for the first 787 delivery, United has already installed a full-flight simulator at their Houston hub and has started training pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.
After United takes delivery of their first 787 in September, they will conduct a variety of tests before the aircraft enters service later in the fall. United is hoping to take delivery of five 787 Dreamliners before the end of 2012.
A front view of the special 787 livery for United. Image from United.
United’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner seen with a quick (and not real) livery for when President Obama visiting Paine Field. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren / NYCAviation.com.
Internal communications shows that United Airlines is expecting to take delivery of their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in September 2012.
United will become the first US airline to take delivery of the new aircraft.
The airline hasn’t been very specific on their expected timeline for their first Dreamliner — only publicly stating, “We expect the plane will enter revenue service in the second half of 2012. ”
Recently, they sent an internal communications to some employees that shows that United has a more detailed plan for their first 787. Over the summer, the newsletter explained that Boeing will complete the following tasks for their first 787:
- Bring electrical power onto the airplane and begin to exercise the use of the electrical systems.
- Install seats and other cabin amenities (the cabin will feature 36 United BusinessFirst flat-bed seats, 63 Economy Plus seats and 120 seats in Economy).
- Paint the 787 in United livery.
- Conduct a series of tests to prepare their 787 for delivery.
Yesterday, United posted this photo on their Facebook showing one of their two GEnx engines that were installed on their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo from United.
The document confirms their expectations for a fall delivery: “September, 2012: We expect to take delivery of our first 787. While the aircraft is expected to enter revenue service in 2012, we will first complete a variety of tests and training. This includes completing FAA conformity checks, which may require up to 100 flight hours of proving runs.”
Of course, dates of delivery are always flowing and it is very possible that United might receive their first 787 before or after September — so don’t get to attached to that month… yet.
UPDATE: I heard back from United and they stated, “We are still saying that we expect to take delivery of our first 787 in the second half of this year.” Knowing how 787 Dreamliner schedules have changed so much in the past few years, it is probably best to stick to that.
GALLERY OF UNITED’S FIRST BOEING 787 DREAMLINER:
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