Qantas’ Kangaroo Route between the U.K. and Australia traditionally required a stop in Dubai. But that changed March 24 with the launch of a new route from Perth to London. The 9,000-mile flight made history as the first scheduled nonstop flight between Australia and Europe, and since then, paying passengers also have been able to make the 17-hour journey in one fell swoop.
The plane that makes this all possible is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and travelers will soon start seeing more of them at Qantas terminals. That’s because the airline just ordered six more, which will bring its fleet of Dreamliners to 14.
The new Dreamliners will replace the airline’s remaining six Boeing 747 jumbos, a model Qantas has flown since 1971. “The 787 has better economics and a longer range, and it’s already opened up new routes like Perth to London,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce. “With a larger fleet of Dreamliners, we’ll be looking at destinations in the Americas, Asia, South Africa and Europe.”
Top and above: GEnx jet engines at GE Aviation’s testing and assembly facility in Peebles, Ohio. Image credit: Tomas Kellner for GE Reports.
Although the make of the engines on the new planes has not been announced, each of the existing eight planes in the carrier’s fleet uses a pair of GE’s GEnx jet engines. GE Aviation developed a version of the engine, GEnx-1B, specifically for the Dreamliner. A second version of the engine, GEnx-2B, serves on an updated version of the 747.
Boeing designed large sections of the Dreamliner from light carbon fiber composites, the same material GE used to build the fan blades and the case for the GEnx jet engines. The materials, computer systems and engines together make the plane’s fuel consumption 20 percent lower compared to planes of similar size. That can save Qantas and its airline peers operating the jets up to $1.6 million per plane per year in fuel expenses, says Max York, CEO of GE Australia.
Carriers have been paying attention. Last month, American Airlines ordered 47 additional new Boeing 787s with GE Aviation’s GEnx-1B engines. The $6.5 billion deal includes a 20-year service agreement. This order follows a previous order for 42 such planes placed several years ago.
Also in April, Turkish Airlines ordered 25 Dreamliners with the GE engines, and the carrier has an option to purchase five more. In March, Hawaiian Airlines agreed to equip 10 Dreamliners with GEnx-1B engines in a deal valued at $520 million. In February, the leasing company AerCap selected the GEnx-1B engines to power its 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with the option to purchase 10 additional aircraft. The engine order is valued at more than $780 million at list price and increases AerCap’s GEnx-powered 787 Dreamliner fleet to 49 jets.
GE Aviation has sold more than 2,000 GEnx engines in less than 15 years since launching the program, solidifying it as the fastest-selling high-thrust GE engine in history.