Qantas purchases six new Dreamliner aircraft

The airline is boosting its Dreamliner fleet with the purchase of six new Boeing 787-9s after posting strong revenue growth in the third quarter.

The new Dreamliners will begin arriving in the first half of fiscal year 2020.

Qantas is boosting its Dreamliner fleet with the purchase of six new Boeing 787-9s after posting strong revenue growth in the third quarter.

The airline’s announcement this morning comes after The Australian revealed Air New Zealand’s ongoing troubles with the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Regulators globally have ­required maintenance checks on part of the engine compressor in the “Package C” Trent 1000 ­engine earlier than usual.

Air New Zealand has done the required checks and sent two 787-9 Dreamliners to Singapore for repair work which could take months due to high demand.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the new Dreamliners would have GE engines instead of the Trent 1000s. Qantas said the six new Dreamliners ordered for its international fleet would allow it to retire its six remaining Boeing 747s by the end of 2020.

The new Dreamliners will begin arriving in the first half of fiscal year 2020 and will bring the Qantas-brand international Dreamliner fleet to 14.

The airline announced the retirement of its five oldest 747s, from a fleet of 11, when it ordered its first eight Dreamliners in 2015.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the Dreamliners are more efficient than the old 747s and that the planes will “open up new network options.”

Some Air New Zealand flights on the Boeing 787-9 going to Asian destinations have used Darwin, Cairns, Sydney and Guam to top up on fuel because of weight restrictions and some flights have been cancelled and rescheduled.