[Greg Hyde]

Qantas orders six more Boeing 787-9s, brings forward 747 retirement

Qantas has exercised options for an additional six Boeing 787-9s, which will bring to 14 the number of the type in the fleet and lead to the withdrawal of the 747 in 2020.

The airline said on Wednesday the six additional 787-9s would arrive between “late 2019 and mid-to-late 2020”.

Currently, Qantas has four 787-9s which are used to operate a Los Angeles-Melbourne-Perth-London Heathrow rotation.

It has four more on firm order due to arrive by the end of 2018. That will allow four aircraft to be based in Brisbane and to replace 747-operated services between Brisbane and Los Angeles, as well as between Los Angeles and New York JFK.

Qantas said the additional six on order would replace its last six 747-400s by the 2020.

“This really is the end of one era and the start of another,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.

“The jumbo has been the backbone of Qantas International for more than 40 years and we’ve flown almost every type that Boeing built.

“Over the years, each new version of the 747 allowed Qantas to fly further and improve what we offered passengers. The Dreamliners are now doing the same thing.

“The 787 has better economics and a longer range, and it has already opened up new routes like Perth to London. With a larger fleet of Dreamliners, we’ll be looking at destinations in the Americas, Asia, South Africa and Europe.”

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