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The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is now a firm fixture in the fleets of many long-haul airlines from London.
The Boeing 787-8 has, with great success, opened up many new transatlantic routes such as Nashville and New Orleans and, from next year, Charleston and Pittsburgh. The Boeing 787-9 has established the first direct scheduled route between London and Australia, to Perth.
This year, airlines have begun to take delivery of the latest variant of the 787, the Boeing 787-10.
However, it’s not clear whether the 787-10 will be as revolutionary as its older siblings.
It’s a larger aircraft, with a length of 68m, compared to 57m for the 787-8 and 63m for the 787-9, but with the same height and wingspan. The most significant difference is that it has, based on official figures from Boeing, a shorter range of 6,430 nautical miles, compared to 7,355 nautical miles for the 787-8 and 7,635 for the 787-9. The total number of aircraft ordered is relatively small, 169 out of over 1,400 for the 787 in total.
Always one to pride itself on world firsts, Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first Boeing 787-10 in March of this year.
Singapore Airlines now has 7 aircraft, out of an order of 47. These operate in a two class configuration with 337 seats in total. It’s used on what the airline terms “regional” routes of less than eight hours from Singapore to Manila, Nagoya, Osaka, Perth and Tokyo Narita.
United Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-10.
It has ordered 14 aircraft in total. It will operate on transcontinental flights from Newark to Los Angeles from Monday 7 January 2018. Next summer, it will progressively operate on transatlantic routes from Newark to Barcelona, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Tel Aviv. United has yet to reveal interior images of the aircraft, but it will feature its “Polaris” business class seat as well as premium economy and economy cabins.
Etihad has very recently taken delivery of 2 out of 30 Boeing 787-10 aircraft. However, given its current financial situation, its fleet plans are likely to be reviewed.
British Airways plans to take delivery of 12 aircraft from 2020 to 2023, with the first six due to arrive in 2020. This will take its total number of 787s to 42, making it very close to the largest series of aircraft in its long-haul fleet.
BA is the only UK airline to have ordered the Boeing 787-10. Like the Airbus A350-1000, it is intended to replace the Boeing 747. The first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to be delivered next year will not have First Class and will replace many 52 Club World seat Boeing 747s. As such, it is likely the Boeing 787-10 will have First Class and a higher Club World configuration to replace the 70 Club World seat Boeing 747s on routes such as New York JFK. It will of course feature BA’s new Club World seat.
Other airlines to take delivery of the Boeing 787-10 include Air France-KLM (though its new CEO has indicated that the fleet plans of Air France and KLM will be reviewed), ANA and Eva Air.
Airlines will be keen to showcase their latest cabins and advanced in-flight entertainment systems on the 787-10. However, with its larger size and relatively limited range, the Boeing 787-10 is likely to be a replacement for aircraft on many existing routes, rather than a gateway to new routes. The principal benefit seems to be its fuel efficiency and commonality with the 787-8 and 787-9.
For aircraft that will open up the next phase of new long-haul routes from London, we’ll have to turn to the Airbus A350 Ultra Long Range and the Boeing 777X which are currently under consideration by Qantas for non-stop flights to Sydney.
