First Regular Long-Haul Route To Be Haneda To Frankfort

Just days before the Friday certification announcement, ANA, the launch customer of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, announced the first international routes for the aircraft. The first Dreamliner is scheduled to be received late September, with the first regular long-haul international operation to be Haneda-Frankfurt, a new route to operate from January 2012. The aircraft will also be used on the Haneda-Beijing route from December, marking the aircraft’s first regular international service.

The Dreamliner’s first regular domestic service will be the Haneda-Okayama route starting on November 1, with a flight on the Haneda-Hiroshima route also departing the same day.

As previously announced, ahead of its regular services, ANA will also operate a special charter flight between Narita and Hong Kong on October 26 and 27. It will be the world’s first passenger flight of the Dreamliner. On the following days (October 28 and 29), excursion flights departing from and landing in Narita will allow more customers to experience the increased level of comfort associated with a flight in the Dreamliner.

Launching in January next year, the Boeing 787 will be used for a new overnight service connecting Haneda and Frankfurt. Initially three flights a week (Monday, Thursday, Saturday), it is planned to operate the flights daily from February 2012. The date services begin and other information will be released as soon as they are confirmed. This new route will be one of the Japan-Europe routes operated by the joint venture between ANA and Lufthansa German Airlines.

Ahead of the Haneda-Frankfurt service, the Boeing 787 will be installed on the Haneda-Beijing route in December, 2011, marking the aircraft’s first regular international service. The Dreamliner will fly the route approximately once a week, until the Haneda-Frankfurt service starts the following month. Further details of the date the service will begin and other information will be released, alongside those of the Haneda-Frankfurt route, when confirmed.

On November 1, 2011, the Boeing 787 will start its regular domestic services, first on the Haneda-Okayama route, and then later the same day, the Haneda-Hiroshima route. By the end of this fiscal year, the aircraft will be successively used on routes connecting Haneda with Itami, Yamaguchi -Ube, and Matsuyama.

To mark the world’s first flight with passengers onboard the 787, ANA will operate a charter flight from Narita to Hong Kong on October 26, returning the following day on October 27. This inaugural charter flight will be sold through package tours.

FMI: www.ana.co.jp/787