Star turn

“It is not often we introduce new large aircraft types into Australian aviation so it takes a lot of work by the airline and by CASA,” McCormick said. “I’d like to congratulate everyone in CASAwho worked on the 787 approval process for their outstanding efforts to make sure all relevant safety issues were checked. I’d also like to congratulate Jetstar for the excellent work they have done during the safety approval process.

“The safety approval process included a demonstration of Jetstar’s 787 emergency evacuation procedures and culminated in a series of flights to prove Jetstar’s operational procedures will run smoothly and safely. ” The Jetstar 787 approval follows months of detailed work by CASA, which included training flying operations and airworthiness inspectors on the type.

CASA said it conducted a thorough review of the safety issuesrelating to the introduction of the new aircraft and will continue to monitor the safety of 787 operations by Jetstar.

Jetstar program director 787 Mark Dal Pra said: “Having the 787 entered onto the Jetstar Airways Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is a huge achievement and the last major milestone we needed to achieve prior to launching our Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger flights. ” “The variation of our AOC reflects a broad range of activities and approvals that culminated in 787 proving flights conducted on October 29 and 30. The proving flights were assessed by the CASA and are the practicaldemonstration our documented procedures and systems work in real time. We’re delighted that we successfully passed the flights between Melbourne and Cairns with stopovers at the Gold Coast. ” “In addition to the proving flights, more than 30 manuals were updated and accepted or approved by CASA. We applied for a variety of regulatory approvals including 180 minutes Extended Diversion Time Operations (EDTO) which were granted by CASA,” Dal Pra added.

CASA also inspected the 787, airports and the equipment and facilities that will be used to support the 787.

The certification is a significant endorsement for Jetstar which is sometimes seen as the poorer and less capable relation of Qantas.

While Qantas was in the background, the whole integration of the 787 – arguably the biggest leap since the 707 over piston power – was a Jetstar affair.

Dream power

And the power behind the Jetstar 787 is looking the goods. Up to the end of October there were 98 engines in service with nine customers and GE had sold 900 GEnx-1B engines to more than 30 customers.

The engine had accumulated 178,000 flight hours and 35,000 cycles, and combined with the GEnx-2B on the 747-8, the GEnx engine hit one million flight hours. Importantly, departure reliability was sitting at 99. 95 percent.

Currently the GEnx-1B engine is the best-selling engine on the 787 and is the fastest-selling engine in GE Aviation history with more than 1,300 engines on order.

Compared to GE’s CF6 engine, the GEnx engine offers up to 15 per cent better fuel efficiency. According to GE, the GEnx’s “innovative twin-annular pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor dramatically reduces NOx gases as much as 55 per cent below today’s regulatory limits and other regulated gases as much as 90 per cent. ” And based on the ratio of decibels to pounds of thrust, the GEnx is the quietest engine GE produces due to the large, more efficient fan blades that operate at slower tip speed, resulting in about 40 per cent lower noise levels.

But it isn’t all gloss, as there has been a glitch in fuel burn which was down three per cent on spec.

To rectify that shortcoming GE (and Rolls-Royce with its Trent) has aggressively worked improvement packages.

The first PIP 1, which entered service last year, included a new LPT design and hot section durability upgrades which gave enhanced durability, increased time on wing and an improved fuel burn of 1. 6 per cent.

PIP 2 was certified in April this year and will be introduced into service in early 2014. It features

. . . arguably the biggest leap since the 707 over piston power. . .

an increase in fan blade diameter of 1. 3cm, optimised outlet guide vanes, high flow booster, improved HPC aerodynamics and combustor and HPT durability improvements. Increase in the fan diameter is achieved by reducing the bore diameter.

The result will be a further improvement to fuel burn of between one and two per cent, and enhanced durability.

The PIP 2 package was designed to bring the engine’s fuel burn up to guarantee, but the PIP 1’s 1. 6 per cent was better than planned so the overall gains of the two programs may well exceed the original guarantees.

Certification was targeted for the latter end of 2012, but was delayed because of a lack of suitable cold weather for icing tests and the subsequent grounding of the 787s.

The first Jetstar 787 (VH-VKA) was delivered with one Block 4 engine and one PIP 1 engine. These are planned to be removed and replaced with PIP 2 engines earlyin 2014. Subsequent deliveries are expected to be equipped with PIP 2 engines. (PIP 2 is an option for 787 GEnx customers. ) Max York, managing director for GE Aviation Australia and New Zealand says the improvements are significant for airlines.

“If you think of a low-cost carrier where 50 per cent of the cost is fuel, one to two per cent is sort of the return you get in the industry,” York said. “So it’s very material to their bottom line, which is why we try and invest in the technology to deliver that to our customers. ” And York does not rule out a PIP 3 in the future. “GE continues to assess new technologies to see if they might work for new or existing engines. ” And one of those is the new engine for the 777X based on the GEnx, which was launched at the Dubai Airshow last month.

Layout

The Jetstar 787 sets the record for the most number of its seats in a 787-8 at 335 – 21 business class and 314 economy. The configuration is an interesting comparison withanother long-haul low-cost airline, Norwegian Shuttle, which has 32 recliner business class seats and 259 economy seats set at 31-32in (79‑81cm) pitch.

In business the airline has fitted Recaro’s CL4420, a “classic business class seat for short to medium-haul” as the company dubs it. The seat comes with an integrated inflight entertainment system standard, as well as PC and USB power supply outlets.

The seats are in black leather in a 2-3-2 configuration and have a seat pitch of 38in (96cm), which is comparable with the airline’s A330s.

The business seats have a 9in (23cm) recline and a 19in (48cm) wide seat cushion so they “are closer to premium economy seating on a Qantas A380 or the revamped Boeing 747s” according to Australian Business Traveller’s David Flynn.

Jetstar argues that the business case for lie-flat beds on sectors that are between five and 10 hours doesn’t add up.

In economy, Jetstar selected the B/E Aerospace Pinnacle 314 seat. The seat uses advanced composites, an integrated lightweight comfort suspension system and a new design methodology that reduces parts by more than 25 per cent. The result according to B/E is a seat that is 15 per cent lighter than any other full-featured economy seat on the market today.

The airline says the economy seats, which are in a 3-3-3 configuration, are set at 31in (79cm) apart but any passenger over 192cm is going to struggle. In fact, it seemed more like a 30in (76cm) pitch to Australian Aviation – an observation backed up by Flynn from ABT.

However, Jetstar points out that effective space is more than on its A330 due to the slimmer profile of the seat.

All the economy seats are fitted with USB, inflight entertainment system with a nine-inch touch screen and there are also two power plugs per set of three seats.

The seats are 18in (46cm) wide with a 13cm recline. The width is slightly more than the seats on the airline’s A330s, which are 17. 2in (44cm) in width.

Jetstar has selected the Panasonic eX2 inflight entertainment system which has user-pays video on demand and gate-to-gate delivery.

However, the level of content is modest compared to Qantas of course.

Passengers will feel less constricted by the cabin design which is quite exceptional. And with significantly larger overhead bins foot clutter should be almost eliminated.

For budget-minded holiday makers the Jetstar 787 is a giant step forward.

But the last word goes to very well known travel agent and aircraft watcher Perth-based Luke Chittock who flew on the first service. “What an awesome aircraft. ” A sentiment echoed by many.