End for 747s as Qantas orders six more Dreamliners

Qantas has ordered six more Dreamliners and is bringing forward the retirement of its ­remaining 747 jumbo jets.

Qantas Dreamliner QF9 leaves Perth on the first direct flight to London.

Qantas has ordered six more Dreamliners and is bringing forward the retirement of its ­remaining 747 jumbo jets.

By the end of 2020 the airline will have 14 of the Boeing 787-9s, which have lower maintenance costs than the 747s that will be retired by then, ending 47 years of service for Qantas.

“They are more fuel efficient, they have longer range, they have better distance,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said, adding that with a bigger fleet of Dreamliners, “we’ll be looking at destinations in the Americas, Asia, South Africa and Europe”.

Reliability “of this aircraft is really good” and Qantas had been “overwhelmed” by the ­response to the non-stop Perth-London service, he said.

The Dreamliners that Qantas flies are powered by engines ­developed by General Electric, so are unaffected by issues that have impacted carriers operating the 787 with particular Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Air New Zealand has had to reschedule some international flights and make a “limited” number of cancellations because it has had to carry out early checks on some Rolls-Royce engines fitted to its Dreamliners.

Last month, Rolls-Royce revealed that extra inspections would be needed on the “Package C” Trent 1000 engine — causing disruption for airlines — because of a technical issue to do with durability of the compressor.

Other airlines have also been affected. Rolls-Royce says there are about 380 of the “Package C” engines in service, while Boeing estimates about 25 per cent of the 787 Dreamliner fleet is powered by the engine. The European Aviation ­Safety Agency last month ordered extra checks on the engine.

Qantas has used the GEnx engine on its Dreamliner fleet, which is also in use on the 787-9 fleet used by budget arm Jetstar.

In 2016, a Jetstar Boeing 787-8 flying from Japan to the Gold Coast was forced to divert to Guam, with an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report saying the engine’s “transfer gearbox” housing was fractured.