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QANTAS: About to order Boeing 787-10s?

QANTAS: About to order Boeing 787-10s?

Reuters is quoting industry sources as saying that Qantas is about to place an order for an unknown number of Boeing B787-10s, and predicting that the order may be confirmed as early as this month.

With Qantas said to be updating the market on it finances tomorrow, maybe we will even get an announcement as well. Such an order would require a board decision, as would the financial report, so …

The new Boeing 787-10 variation is a stretched version of the widebodied aircraft, but with a shorter range, which is able to compete with the Airbus A330 family, that Qantas is close to retiring.

a large airplane on a runway
Qantas A330 [Qantas]

Cancelled Dreamliner order

Back in 2018, Alan Joyce cancelled the remainder of a large order of Dreamliners, which I wrote about recently.

In 2005, when it initially inked in the options with Boeing, it included up to 115 jets. After the cancellation of most of the order, it looked like the thinking at Qantas had changed, leaning towards a mostly Airbus fleet, with outstanding orders for A220s, A320s and A350-1000s as part of Project Sunrise. Those Airbus behemoths can fly directly to New York and London from Australia’s east coast.

a seat in a plane
Qantas 787-9 Business Class [Qantas]

Rebalancing Boeing and Airbus capacity

It looks like Boeing, with these Dreamliners, is set to play a bigger part in the future of Qantas. Qantas currently has only 14 of the Boeing 787-9s, largely used to replace the now-retired 747s. With the existing orders of Airbus planes, it was expected that Qantas might become a largely one aircraft manufacturer outfit, but apparently not.

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson in waiting, said as recently as June this year that the carrier would need to look at the aircraft to replace existing A330 jets by the end of 2023 at the latest.

the inside of an airplane
Qantas A330 Business Class [Schuetz/2PAXfly]

2PAXfly Takeout

Reuters tends to have some pretty good sources, so I would put this story as ‘highly likely’ to be correct. Maybe we will know tomorrow when Qantas announces its financial results.

It will be interesting to know what the reason is to order Boeing B787-10s over Airbus A330s. Price? Delivery? Suitability? Capacity?

2 Comments

  1. derek

    It’s amazing how far airliners have come. The 787-10 is considered medium range but it is used to fly between Taiwan (TPE) and the United States (SEA). No need to stop in Anchorage. Of course the 777-300ER, 787-9, and A350-900 can fly further.

    Even the 737 has advanced from a short range 737-200 to 737 MAX flying from Europe to the United States, almost like a 707 did.

    Reply
    • 2paxfly

      Derek, thanks for your comment. You are correct. Carbon fibre replacing metal, lighter airframes, more efficient engines and improved aerodynamics have all seen vast improvements in modern aircraft performance and efficiency. Thanks for the tip about Eva Air’s direct flight between Seattle and Taipai

      Reply

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