Jetstar launches international Dreamliner flights

Jetstar has launched its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on an international route for the first time.

The inaugural Dreamliner flight to Bali departed Melbourne on Wednesday, and will now operate daily. Flights leave the Australian city at 1845, arriving into Bali at 2155. The return leg then departs Denpasar at 2300, getting back into Melbourne at 0735 the following morning.

The launch marks the start of Jetstar’s international Dreamliner services, and these will be expanded in 2014 with the launch of new services to Asia’s resort destinations.

Boeing 787 flights from Sydney to Bali will commence in January, followed by a new Dreamliner service between Sydney and Phuket in February. Then in April 2014, the low-cost carrier will commence B787 flights on the Brisbane-Bali route. The airline will also deploy the Dreamliner on its Melbourne-Auckland route for a limited period between 26 February and 28 March 2014.

Jetstar took delivery of its first B787 in October this year and will receive its second in December and third in early January 2014. The airline plans to transition to an all-Dreamliner long-haul fleet by 2015, with the aircraft eventually replacing Jetstar existing fleet of Airbus A330s, which will be transferred to Qantas.

The fuel-efficient B787s come equipped with 335 seats in a two-class configuration, with 21 seats in business class and 314 in economy. This makes Jetstar’s Dreamliner the highest capacity B787 operating in the world today.

“Today’s inaugural international 787 flight is a pivotal milestone for Jetstar, marking a new dawn in the history of our long-haul operations,” David Hall, CEO of Jetstar Australia & New Zealand said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Jetstar has also launched flights between Adelaide and Auckland. The new service took off for the first time this week, marking the airline’s first international service from the South Australian capital. The route will be operated three times a week using an Airbus A320 aircraft.