December 16, 2005 – QANTAS has selected the Boeing 787 as the foundation its domestic and international fleet renewal programme. A total of 45 787-8s and –9s is on firm order for use by Qantas mainline and recently announced international operation of low-cost arm Jetstar (Inflight Online, December 9).

Jetstar will launch international service in 2007, using Airbus A330s to begin with before receiving four 787-8s in 2008. Qantas mainline will get its first 787s in July 2009, and a total of 28 examples of the type are due to be in operation with Qantas and Jetstar by December 2011.

As reported in Inflight Online last week, AVOD inflight entertainment will form part of the international Jetstar product, along with assigned seating with online seat selection, airport lounge access for existing Qantas Club members, and frequent-flier points.

Hot meals and snacks will be complimentary in the premium-economy StarClass and available for sale in economy. StarClass will offer a seat similar to that of Qantas’ domestic business class and a range of other benefits such as higher baggage allowances and priority boarding.

If Qantas is as good as its word about IFE, international Jetstar passengers will be among the first in the world to enjoy their films and music via a wireless-based system. Thales Avionics’ wireless i-8000 won recommended status on the 787 in September, with Panasonic’s Wireless X receiving the same accolade two weeks ago.

Originally touted as a certain route to big weight savings, wireless IFE is actually going aboard the 787 in response to a Boeing demand for increased flexibility in reconfiguring cabins.

“Wireless is actually no lighter than a conventional wired solution,” Panasonic Avionics business development director David Bruner told Inflight Online at September’s WAEA show. “But Boeing wants it in order to give the airlines the ability to reconfigure the 787 cabin rapidly and cheaply by moving seats and slotting them back into the underfloor plug-and-play power supply. They don’t want IFE data cables getting in the way.”

Ken Brady, chief design engineer for Thales’ TopSeries range of IFE systems, told a similar story. “Our i-8000 architecture for the 787 is just 80lb lighter than our most weight-efficient cabled system, the i-4500,” he said. “But we’re committed to developing a wireless system, driven by the requirements of the 787 programme.”