Perth base for new Boeing 787 fleet

As part of the celebrations to mark Qantas’s inaugural Sydney-San Francisco flight last month, the airline officially signed for up to 115 Boeing 787s to be used extensively from Perth.

At the ceremony was Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Alan Mulally, Qantas ambassador John Travolta and Qantas CFO Peter Gregg.

The first 787s will be delivered to Jetstar International in July 2008 and Qantas will receive its first in mid 2009.

The aircraft is capable of flying between Perth and London non-stop with a full passenger payload.

Boeing has so far booked 386 orders from 28 airlines around the world. Building the 787 is the world’s largest industrial program and is being carried out at 132 sites around the world, including Australia.

Perth will be a major hub for the 787s, which will be used by Qantas to Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne replacing the A330s and Boeing 767s.