If you miss flying on Qantas’ long-haul Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, there’s some good news for you. Qantas has started running its Boeing 787s on up to nine return Sydney-Perth flights per week, and frequent flyers may even be able to upgrade from Economy to a Premium Economy seat for free!
If you’re flying between Sydney and Perth, you can now catch a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the following flights:
- QF645 Sydney 10:25 – Perth 13:20 (daily)
- QF648 Perth 14:35 – Sydney 20:35 (daily)
On some Fridays and Sundays, Boeing 787s are also being used on QF643, departing Sydney at 8.25am, and QF646, the 12:50 departure from Perth back to Sydney.
In the coming months, Qantas will also add Boeing 787s onto some Brisbane-Perth flights.
This means Qantas is now using a mixture of Boeing 737s, Airbus A330s and Boeing 787s on the Sydney-Perth route. When booking flights on the Qantas website, you can check the aircraft type by clicking on the flight number or checking the icons above the “total duration” listing.
There are currently plenty of Classic Flight Reward seats available to book using Qantas points in Economy class on the Sydney-Perth flights operated by the Boeing 787. In fact, if you book by next Friday and travel between 1 July & 9 December 2021, you can get a 30% discount on reward bookings.
It appears Qantas has not yet released Business class award availability on these services. But this could change at a later stage.
Jetstar is also using its Boeing 787s on some domestic routes to Gold Coast and Cairns.
Free Premium Economy upgrades for frequent flyers
The Qantas 787s are configured with 28 Premium Economy seats. But Qantas is not selling Premium Economy on its Sydney-Perth flights. Instead, these seats will be available to select for free by lucky Gold, Platinum & Platinum One frequent flyers.
Premium Economy is located from rows 20-23.
Qantas will still provide Economy class service to passengers sitting in the Premium Economy cabin on these domestic flights. But passengers will be able to enjoy a larger, more comfortable seat.
What’s it like on board the Qantas 787?
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was Qantas’ newest wide-body long-haul aircraft prior to COVID-19.
In Economy, which has a 3-3-3 configuration, the seats are unfortunately a bit narrower than on the Airbus A330 – but there is an extra inch of legroom. The Boeing 787 Economy seats are the same width as a Boeing 737 seat but have an extra 2 inches of legroom.
Premium Economy is laid out in a 2-3-2 configuration.
And there are 42 Business suites on board which convert into a comfortable lie-flat bed and offer direct aisle access for every passenger. These seats are similar to those found on the Airbus A330.
“We know how popular the 787s and A330s are with our customers on our international network and we think there will be huge demand for the domestic flights these aircraft operate on, particularly frequent flyers looking to use points,” Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said.
Qantas launches seven new domestic routes
Qantas also announced yesterday that it will launch a further seven new non-stop domestic routes from August-September 2021:
- Adelaide-Townsville
- Adelaide-Cairns
- Adelaide-Hobart
- Sydney-Townsville
- Melbourne-Townsville
- Perth-Gold Coast
- Sydney-Uluru (starting March 2022)
The new Adelaide and Townsville services will be operated by Alliance Airlines E190s. Alliance yesterday began operating E190 flights between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on behalf of QantasLink.
The Perth-Gold Coast and Sydney-Uluru flights will be served by Qantas Boeing 737-800s.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Qantas ramps up flights to Cairns, Hobart, Gold Coast and Townsville
