Rumour - QF Group to get 777s

[moa999]

Interesting thread on pprune about QF Group getting 777s - three or four.
Caveats - Poster is a newbie with only two posts, obscures by using not for mainline, rather than a view on where they are going.

Two potentials as I see it..

1.
A few 777s for QF Freight, to replace the Atlas branded 747s
Less interesting

2.
Combined with rumours about 787-8s for mainline and lack of 787-8 performance.
These are discounts/ compensation for performance of declines of 787-8s
777s to JQi
Immediately releases A330s to QFi, which enables more 747 retirements
First set of 787-8s to QFd to replace 767s
Then subsequent 787-9s to both QFi and JQi

 

[Must...Fly!]

Makes perfect sense to me. The 777s would come super super discounted from Boeing, means bugger all capital cost. Mix of A330/B777 would be a concern for Jetstar though as an "LCC" but there is no shortage of 777 engineering expertise in SIN (and elsewhere). With all the freight EK puts in it's birds....I can actually see this happening.

 

[anat0l]

I call absolute b***s*** worthy of being hung and drawn until it happens.

 

[v8Statesman]

I call absolute b***s*** worthy of being hung and drawn until it happens.

Me too! But interesting to ponder all the same!

 

[jb747]

Makes perfect sense to me. The 777s would come super super discounted from Boeing, means bugger all capital cost. Mix of A330/B777 would be a concern for Jetstar though as an "LCC" but there is no shortage of 777 engineering expertise in SIN (and elsewhere). With all the freight EK puts in it's birds....I can actually see this happening.

Why would they be 'super discounted'? Last I heard the line was booked solid for the next five years.

 

[moa999]

Jump the line due to delay of 787-8s and performance issues - Boeing compensation - they control the queues.... A 777 is still not that cheap however.
As I said, very much a rumour only... but interesting nonetheless.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Given the number of 787 orders, it looks like the whole world will be "jumping queue" in the 777 production line, and personally, I can't see it happening. On the other hand, those 734s need to go sooner or later...

 

[Must...Fly!]

Why would they be 'super discounted'? Last I heard the line was booked solid for the next five years.

787 issues as moa999 says. If the B787-8 can't get to ATH or FCO from SIN with a decent density of pax, it could not be as attractive to Jetstar assuming they are still targeting southern Europe. Considering the group have 50 on order Boeing would like to keep them happy.

They hit record sales numbers last year and are ramping production on the 777 line in 1Q next year (8 per month). Considering how long it has been around it's a fair assumption that they would be making good money on each airframe too.

ANA have been running the 787 from Haneda to Frankfurt which is a similar distance as Athens from Singapore. However the configuration is a little curious...46J, 112Y...that's no good to JQ!

 

[Sprucegoose]

Why would they be 'super discounted'? Last I heard the line was booked solid for the next five years.

Agree, Boeing told me just that when I was there in April. Even had a few 767-400s underway.

 

[Flying Fox]

Ah the old 'QF is getting 777s' rumor again.

I call BS on this one.

I would like them in the fleet but they worked on the original design with Boeing and never bought them back then and have been wooed all these years without a bite. Besides, introducing a new fleet type is a massive undertaking which couldn't happen overnight so I'm sure we would have all heard more news prior to this.

Happy to be proven wrong!

 

[markis10]

If its going to happen chances are it will be revealed in a few weeks.

 

[elbarto]

I can't see many missions in the QF network that an A330 cant do. Begs the question, why does QF even need the 777 anymore? Only routes I can see would be South Africa and South America where the 77L could work, but until CASA changes its rules on ETOPS these route will remain the territory of a quad jet.

The only plausible 777 order is for freighters.

 

[VHOEJ]

Won't happen - PPrunne is not a source of information. Those posters raise that rumour at least every 6 months and it never happens. They are just making up rumours because that is what they want to happen

The 777 boat passed a long time ago and won't return.

 

[markis10]

I can't see many missions in the QF network that an A330 cant do. Begs the question, why does QF even need the 777 anymore? Only routes I can see would be South Africa and South America where the 77L could work, but until CASA changes its rules on ETOPS these route will remain the territory of a quad jet.

The only plausible 777 order is for freighters.

Thats with the blinkers on that are the current destinations, given 25% of the UK-AUS traffic has shifted to middle east stops in the last year which cannot be handles by a A330.....I dont think it will happen and if it does it will be aircraft ex EK.

 

[drron]

Thats with the blinkers on that are the current destinations, given 25% of the UK-AUS traffic has shifted to middle east stops in the last year which cannot be handles by a A330.....I dont think it will happen and if it does it will be aircraft ex EK.

Maybe you have hit on the reason EK have been talking to QF-flogging of their old 777s.

 

[Must...Fly!]

That thought crossed my mind but I would have thought EK would be more inclined to convert their birds in to freighters.

 

[moa999]

The whole middle East traffic thing doesnt do it for me... The Mid East is not much of a destination for many. sure being used as a stopover, but the ME routes are winning over the classic Kangaroo routes due to price and more flight connections.... Even with a codeshare unless QF can get a super good price on DXB-anywhere on EK, I cant see it helping QF much.

 

[pauly7]

Jump the line due to delay of 787-8s and performance issues - Boeing compensation - they control the queues.... A 777 is still not that cheap however.
As I said, very much a rumour only... but interesting nonetheless.

Another déjà vu thread.

I guess it's as interesting as pondering what DJ would do with a 747 or a380

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Maybe JB747 can answer this, how long does it take to get a license for a new aircraft, from a 747/A380/767 to get fully ticketed to a 777? Is it a long process or say ~2 months?
What about mechanical/engineering certification as well for the maintenance/up keep side of things? Crew training?

If QF was looking to get 777's, wouldn't we have heard about it through the grapevine somewhere?

*Edit*
Found the PPrune thread here

 

[markis10]

I think if it there is a grain of salt to the rumour, adding a type to a AOC would be the easy part, considering the backlog is 350 odd aircraft!