Japanese carrier ANA is planning commemorative flights to celebrate ten years of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The airline was the launch customer of Boeing’s latest clean-sheet design, putting the aircraft into service on November 1st, 2011, and has since taken aircraft from each variant of the family.
The Boeing 787 hasn’t had the best year, with Boeing only delivering a handful of the aircraft over the past 12 months. However, things are starting to look a little bit up. Just this morning, Simple Flying reported that ANA had taken delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner since June, a sign that things may be on the mend.
Celebrating ten years of the Dreamliner
September 25th marked a decade since the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner was delivered to launch customer ANA. However, the airline didn’t put the aircraft straight into service. Instead, the first scheduled Dreamliner flight was on November 1st, 2011, according to schedule data from Cirium.
ANA is heading back to its Dreamliner roots to celebrate this milestone, operating a handful of special flights with the Boeing 787-8 on October 31st. Two aircraft will be used to recreate the airline’s first 787 routes, following this schedule,
- ANA 653 – Tokyo Haneda (HND) 10:25 – Okayama (OKJ) 11:45 – 01h20m
- ANA 656 – Okayama (OKJ) 12:30 – Tokyo Haneda (HND) 13:45 – 01h15m
- ANA 679 – Tokyo Haneda (HND) 13:10 – Hiroshima (HIJ) 14:40 – 01h30m
- ANA 680 – Hiroshima (HIJ) 15:25 – Tokyo Haneda (HND) 16:45 – 01h20m
According to ANA, those who secure a space on these special flights will receive themed gifts on the flights, similar to on its A380 charter flights. Meanwhile, there will be a water cannon salute for the jets at both Okayama and Hiroshima.
Commenting on the special flights, Hideki Kunugi, Executive Vice President of ANA, said,
“The Boeing 787 has been an integral part of our fleet… The upcoming commemorative flights are an expression of gratitude towards our partnership and collaboration with Boeing for supplying aircraft that have met our needs… we expect that the Boeing 787 will continue to be a key part of our fleet for years to come.”
The ANA Boeing 787 fleet today
Today, ANA is one of just a handful of airlines that operates each of the three Boeing 787 variants. According to ch-aviation.com, the airline currently has 74 jets. This comprises 35 787-8s, 36 787-9s, and just two Boeing 787-10s. Just today, the airline took delivery of another 787-9, boosting the number of -9s by one.
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With 96 Dreamliners on order, the airline is still expecting 22 more jets. This includes eight more -9s and 12 -10s. The last 787 is expected to be a -10 delivered in August 2025.
The airline’s first Boeing 787 was a -8 registered as JA801A. The aircraft is 10.12 years old, having first flown on September 1st, 2011. With 198 economy seats and 42 business class seats, the aircraft has 240 seats throughout its cabin. According to ch-aviation.com, its current value is $51.05 million. This compares to $135.39 million for a Boeing 787-9 delivered to the airline in April.
Have you flown onboard an ANA Boeing 787 in the past decade? Let us know about your experience in the comments!
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