Qantas has revealed the design of the indigenous livery that will be going on their fourth Boeing 787-9 VH-ZND. The aircraft has been named “, Emily Kame Kngwarreye” and the livery is based off her 1991 artwork Yam Dreaming. The aircraft will fly direct for approximately 15 hours from the Boeing factory in Seattle to touch down in Alice Springs on 2 March 2018 where it will be welcomed by Emily’s family.
Qantas have confirmed that they have let one of their 787 options expire, as they do not believe it is necessary to take it up. They do however intend to take up a number of their other options later this year,
Qantas has now also provided an updated 787 schedule and network, seen below
Airbus has been on tour this month with its brand new A350-1000 aircraft. It visited Sydney to try and convince Qantas that the A350 family is the future of their fleet. It is one of the few upcoming aircraft that can possibly fly Sydney to London or New York direct. It also visited the Singapore Airshow and Auckland amongst many other Australasian cities.
Many airlines worldwide have had to ground much of their 787 fleets due to faults in the planes Rolls Royce engines. Nearly 50 planes, including 5 from Air New Zealand have been removed from service since the start of the year due to premature fatigue in the engine fan blades. All affected engines will have to be replaced. This means that many flights have been replaced by older leased planes. Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic have both hired old A340 aircraft to keep their schedules running whilst the planes are out of service.
Photos courtesy of Qantas and Australian Aviation Magazine
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