ANA’s Boeing 787 arrives at SEA to a water cannon salute. Photo by Mal Muir / AirlineReporter.com.
This story was written by AirlineReporter.com correspondent Mal Muir…
Even though the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been flying the skies commercially for almost a year now, its route network has been limited. The majority of flights are made up of Japanese domestic routes operated by ANA, but that is quickly changing. Yesterday one of their 787 essentially ’œreturned to its home,” during the inaugural Narita (NRT) to Seattle (SEA) flight.
ANA’s 787 being serviced at SEA.
When ANA’s first Boeing 787 was delivered back in September 2011, it was a rainy day in Seattle. Yesterday was almost the total opposite with the sun shining and Mount Rainier prominently on the horizon. The airport has seen a 787 Dreamliner visit before, but this was the first one operating a revenue flight.
I ended up having to rush to the airport, since the flight was actually an hour early. Yuji Hirako, the Senior Vice President at ANA for the Americas, joked that even though the aircraft may have been delivered late, it’s always good to see an aircraft show up early (he would probably later regret that statement).
ANA pilots stand in front of the 787 at Sea-Tac.
As the Dreamliner made its approach into Seattle, the crowds at the terminal gathered to watch as the 787 returned to its birth-city. The aircraft operating the flight (JA814A) was only delivered barely a week prior, on the 23rd of September, making this was its first revenue flight. The aircraft made a stellar touch down on Runway 34L before taxiing to the South Satellite at SeaTac. Before arriving at the gate, it had a traditional water cannon salute that produced a spectacular rainbow.
The 787 was greeted by plenty of media, guests and invited dignitaries as the Dreamliner Day festivities came into full swing. Speeches were given by Boeing, the Port of Seattle and ANA as they talked about bringing the 787 home, and the friendship that this aircraft can create. Tom Albro, the Port of Seattle Commissioner, explained how the flight will help to strengthen the relationship between Japan and the Pacific Northwest, .
This 787 (JA814A) is configured with ANA’s international business product.
Soon, we were given the opportunity to tour the interior of the aircraft. Part of the “Inspiration of Japan” initiative by ANA is the Business Staggered seat which gives everyone aisle access and a fully lay-flat seat. With only 112 seats in Economy and 46 seats in the Business Cabin it certainly feels different since almost 2/3 of the aircraft (space wise) isdedicated to the premium product.
Sadly Dreamliner Day didn’t finish off as promising as it had started. The airline first announced the flight would be delayed 90 minutes, but things became worse due to a faulty liquid pump. The first 787 revenue flight out of Seattle was delayed a full 24 hours and at the time of publishing is still set to depart Seattle 1:15pm local time today. Let’s hope that it departs on-time today.
This story will be updated on the 787’s flight departure.
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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
The Copper River Salmon has arrived to Seattle on a Boeing 737-400 Combi.
It has become a yearly tradition to wake up before it gets light and head on down to Alaska Air Cargo at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to welcome the season’s first Copper River Salmon. When that alarm goes off early in the morning, it is easy to question why would one get up so early to welcome
some fish?
Well, this is not just any fish, but many say one of the best in the world. There was huge fanfare as airline employees, media and guests welcomed the VIP salmon to Seattle.
That is one big fish. Judges, pilots and chefs show off the 55 pound salmon.
“We’re proud to be the first to bring wild and sustainable Copper River salmon to seafood lovers across the country, in many cases within 24 hours after the fish is caught,” said Torque Zubeck, managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. “With enhanced food quality procedures and additional flights to support the Alaska seafood industry, we are going the extra mile to deliver seafood that’s as fresh as possible.”
The captain has the privilege to grab the largest fish and take it off the aircraft. This year, he was able to find a whopper — 55 pounds.
Cooking salmon in the outdoors early in the morning at an airport -- what more does one need?
It is not just about welcoming some fish, but also to have an epic Alaska Air Cargo’s “Copper Chef Cook-off.” This year executive chef Pat Donahue from Anthony’s Restaurant, Jason Wilson of CRUSH and Wayne A Johnson of Ray’s Boathouse competed to make the best Copper River Salmon dish in just 30 minutes.
The large fish was taken to be filet, divided up and given to the chefs. Each restaurant has their own outdoor cooking station and are able to do their thing.
The judges have the hard job of eating salmon, drinking wine and making the big decision for the winner.
During the 30 minute cook time, guests were entertained by local celebrity Jon Curley. He interacted with the cooks, judges and guests who each donated 75,000 miles to Make A Wish Foundation to earn a ticket to the event. A total of 1.2 million miles were donated for the enve.
After the meals were prepared a panel of judges voted on the best. The judges consisted of Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer; Joanne Dunham, co-owner of Dunham Cellars; Gary Horner, senior winemaker at Erath Winery; and Bill Ayer, chairman of Alaska Air Group.
Pat Donahue from Anthony's Restaurant celebrates this victory for the third year in a row. Former Mariner Jay Buhner hands out the awards.
When everything was said and done the winner, for the third year in a row was Anthony’s Restaurant.
This is the third year that Alaska Cargo has celebrated the salmon and each year it seems to be a bit better. (See the events in 2011 and 2010)
Alaska Airlines flew nearly 25 million pounds of fresh Alaska seafood to the Lower 48 states and beyond last year, including nearly 1.8 million pounds of Copper River salmon. The airline flies a total of 115 million pounds of cargo annually.
View all 18 photos from the event this morning or check out all three recipes made this morning.
Being based in Seattle, this is such a beautiful photo. Can't until this is a common sight. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
On Monday, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ZA005) made a special visit to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). The visit was to help prepare the airport and ground crews for future Dreamliner operations.
ZA005 was at SEA for about two hours completing a gate check, making sure the grew could operate the jet bridge, load cargo, plug in the aircraft and more.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be the first airline to start Dreamliner operations to and from Seattle later this fiscal year. Before then, they have announced their intention to start the flight to Narita (NRT) a bit earlier with a Boeing 777.
“We are delighted that we will be soon launching the Seattle-Tokyo service, our 7th gateway in the US,” ANA Seattle Office General Manager Toshio Nomura told AirlineReporter.com. “Originally, we had planned to operate this route with the Boeing 787 starting later this year, but felt that it is significant for us to come here, the home of Dreamliner, sooner and capture the summer demand. Because of that, we plan to use a 777 and transition to the 787 later in the year. ANA looks forward to having you on board to experience the high quality service we thrive upon.”
ZA005 taxis at Sea-Tac. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Ground crew welcome the 787 to Sea-Tac. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Ground crew practice loading cargo onto ZA005. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
N787FT sits at S-Terminal at SEA. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
Soon, it will be a common site seeing a Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off from SEA. Photo by Don Wilson / Port of Seattle. Click for larger.
The Club International Lounge is located in the South Terminal at SEA.
Recently, Delta Air Lines upgraded to a newer lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), which left their old location available. The airport decided to renovate it and offer it to airlines that might not have the capacity to have their own lounge, nor are using one of the other lounges already at the airport. Emirates, which started service from Seattle to Dubai on March 1st, is currently the only airline that is making use of the lounge, but that should change in the future.
The lounge provides nice views to aircraft outside.
“We refurbished the old one and are making it available for airlines who do not have enough flights to warrant a full one of their own or do not share with another airline,” Perry Cooper, Airport Media and Public Affairs Manager with SEA explained to AirlineReporter.com. “Emirates uses it when they began on March 1st. We are looking to attract some of the other international airlines to use it as well. ”
Cooper also stated that currently the airport is not offering day passes to other passengers who are not flying on Emirates business or first class.
It might be small, but right now there is not a huge demand.
The Club International lounge has a modern atmosphere with many of the amenities one would come to expect. There are not many food options, but that they have the standard snack-type foods found in many other lounges. The club does not have its own Wi-Fi, which is fine, since the entire SEA airport has free Wi-Fi that you are able to access in the lounge.
There are free adult beverages offered and even a menu with locally inspired mixed.
Have to love the coffee machine. I used it twice.
The strange thing about the lounge is that behind the front desk, is a walled off glass area. Since it was not well labeled, I was not sure if it was a quiet area or what. I had to ask and I was informed that it was the first class section.
I understand that some first class folks don’t want to mingle with the business class, but it just seemed weird — almost zoo like. There really isn’t anything else in the glassed off area except a secondary snack area and additional seating. I guess some people just want to feel special and if that is what they are wanting, it is good to give it to them.
