TUIFly Belgium (ex-Jetairfly) Boeing 787 Dreamliners

[Bottie]

And the crowded cockpit has one reason: the pilots have to learn on short-haul trips before engaging in long-haul routes!

This is absolutely wrong. As an administrator of this forum, please don't invent absolute nonsense about things you absolutely don't know. Do you sincerly think 2 pilots on a jumpseat are in training?

And by the way, a short haul flight is the same as a long haul flight for a pilot...

May I invite you to share with us what the real reason is?

[sabtech81]

Companies prefer short flights for training because it accelerates the training and pilots can be "released" from flying with instructors a lot quicker in time. Spending 7 hours in cruise for line training is a waste of time, especially if you have 13 other pilots waiting to do the same thing when a new aircraft is introduced.

People on jumpseats can be anyone. For first flights of pilots it is usually a safety pilot because with the current simulator technology, touch&go's are done in the simulator. The first takeoff and landing a pilot does with the aircraft itself is the first sector of line training.

Other people on jumpseats can be anyone. With brand new aircraft it can very well be an engineer (and they will wear pilot shirts sometimes, but different or no "stripes") because in some destinations, you don't expect to find qualified people. Some of the people you see, are probably Boeing people. It can also be someone from the authorities auditing the training, "desk-people" doing observation flights,...

You are absolutely right. 3 captain's and an engineer on board on the flight the picture was taken.

[airtrainer]

OO-JDL has just landed at LGG, will be on board soon

[sn26567]

OO-JDL has just landed at LGG

Picture Jetairfly

[Dreamflight]

Where can i find a seating plan of the JAF 787? Thanks.

Same configuration
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Thomso ... _787-8.php

avoid seat 7A - NO window

[jvdv]

The jetairfly dreamliner just flew over Leuven really low, it was nice to see but I was to late to take a picture! http://www.flightradar24.com/JAF202

[letscruise]

Landing in OST today:
http://www.focus-wtv.tv/video/boeing-78 ... t-oostende

[Devon Rex]

Where can i find a seating plan of the JAF 787? Thanks.

Same configuration
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Thomso ... _787-8.php

avoid seat 7A - NO window

I believe the JAF Dreamliner has 3 classes? Economy, Economy + and Comfort class... at least that's what I understood from their dreamliner site.

[tangolima]

Hello

I was in the dreamliner today and I was told indeed 3 classes.

Business , comfort (10 cm more leg room compared to economy) and economy

Greetings,

[Sabena320]

avoid seat 7A - NO window

As well as 30A and 30J.

[Apuneger]

Hi,

As promised last Sunday, I have finally made a trip report of the first flight BRU-AGP. I'm not used to writing such reports, but nevertheless I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Date: Sunday December 8th 2013
Flight: JAF7567 BRU-AGP
Aircraft Type: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Registration: OO-JDL
STD/ATD: 06:05 / 06:12 (blocks off)
STA / ATA: 09:00 / 08:48 (blocks on)

After a short night I woke up at 3:00 in the morning. Following a short breakfast I made my way to Brussels Airport. After parking my car I went to check-in row 12 for my flight to Malaga. Queues were still quite low, so after only 5 minutes I could check-in. The check-in agent confirmed that the flight would be operated by the Dreamliner (actually she didn't confirm the Dreamliner aircraft type as such, she only confirmed the 3-3-3 seating configuration).



After check-in I made my way to the A Pier. I noticed that the usual 'security gates' at the right side were closed due to works for the new Connector. Now we had to pass new gates at the left side, just in front of the new Belle & Belge bar. I continued my way to the A Pier and after passing security I went to gate A57. I was happy to notice that indeed OO-JDL was nicely parked at stand 157. Staff members from all the various companies involved were already very busy making necessary preparations for this maiden trip.



Around 5:45 the gate agent announced that boarding could begin. As this is the first time the aircraft will be operated commercially with passengers, some additional supervisors as well as ground operations management were at the gate, to make sure boarding and all other ground operations related tasks went smooth and uneventful. A big thumbs up to them!



Boarding went quite fast and without any problems. All pax were kindly welcomed by the purser and other cabin crew members. Cabin crew members assisted pax who had any problems or questions. As could be expected, the flight was not full (I estimate the load factor was around 50%). Some of the first things you notice upon entering the aircraft, are the spacious feel of the cabin, the large overhead bins, the personal IFE and the larger windows.





Once boarding was completed, we were welcomed on the PA by one of the pilots on the flightdeck. Few moments later, the aircraft doors were closed and pushback commenced. After what appeared to be a quick test of the Sky Interior lighting system, the purser welcomed everybody once again via the PA aboard the maiden trip of the Jetairfly Dreamliner and the cabin crew members showed the safety demonstrations. As we taxied to RWY 25R, lights were dimmed as it is standard procedure.

After giving way to a Thomas Cook Airbus (already wearing the new livery on its tail) we entered the active runway (25R) and few moments later we took off, bound for Malaga. The climbout from BRU was very smooth and uneventful. As soon as we reached a safe altitude, the cabin lights went on again, and the IFE system was fully available. I made a quick test and it has everything you can expect from todays IFE systems, including AVOD. There are quite some options to choose from (movies, TV series, music, games and you can even connect your personal device via USB). You can also recharge your iPhone via the USB port.







Once we reached our cruise altitude, cabin crew members commenced their service and personal headsets were handed out to all passengers. The cruise was extremely smooth. The commander greeted the passengers from the flightdeck and gave some more explanations about the aircraft (e.g. that the wings tend to flex more and that the windows are bigger).



As the flight progressed, I made a walk through to the front and the back of the cabin and made some additional photos. As the sun started to rise during our cruise, the colours on the horizon were quite dramatic, so I made some nice photos of this as well. During the later part of the cruise, all pax were given a complimentary box with 2 Neuhaus pralines to celebrate the inaugural flight. Quite a nice gesture I must say…







Around 8:30 and after a flight of about 2 hours, we commenced our descent into Malaga, hence all passengers were adviced to put their seatbelt back on and put the headrest in the upper position.

The cabin lights were dimmed again as soon as we began the final phase of our descent into Malaga. The approach took us straight over the Mediterranean Sea, continued by a 180° turn in order to alight the Dreamliner with the final course for Malaga's RWY 31.

At 8:44 we landed on RWY 31. After a short rollout we exited the RWY and taxied to our assigned stand at gate 54. During the short taxi to our parking position, the cabin crew welcomed us to Malaga and wished everybody a nice stay. As they were aware that some people were aboard the flight only to witness the maiden Jetairfly Dreamliner flight, the purser also wished us a safe trip home later that day. A nice and very warm gesture again...



More photos are available on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87041388@N ... 527388366/
Best regards,
Ivan

[Duke]

I notice on FR24 that OO-JDL almost immediately climbs to FL43, and stays there for quite a part of the cruise.
I guess flying on a higher level reduces fuel consumption, and resduces congestion on lower flight levels.
Most aircraft however cruise at maximum FL 37 or FL 39 .
Is the high cruise going to be a standard procedure for the B787, or is this just a trial for the first flights?
Is the B787 the only plane capable of flying so high?
Are there other advantages of doing so?
Best regards,

Duke

[JAF737]

Hi Duke,

43100ft is the maximum the B787 can do and it's indeed slightly higher than many other aircrafts (B737NG = 41000ft).

It's indeed standard to fly as close as possible to the optimum level, but it also depends on many other factors (flow management, winds, weather forecasts etc etc..).

This is also because the B787 is quite light on those flights, so it's able to climb directly to FL430. Which is indeed better as she's pretty much alone up there

It also has incredible performance at high weights. Close to MTOW, you could already climb up to FL360/380, while a B767 would be stuck at FL340 or something like that.

[KriVa]

Is the B787 the only plane capable of flying so high?

No, not at all.
A lot of private jets routinely cruise at FL510. The Boeing 747SP could climb to FL451, Concorde would reach FL600. And that's just the civillian side of things, a lot of military aircraft can fly even higher.
Another advantage of being so high: traffic. Most of the traffic will be flying below you, so you have a bit more options in terms of routing (Taking a shortcut can, and does, happen more often.)

[Depretair]

Do the pilots have to wear O2 masks @ FL430?
Time of usefull consciousness is really short @ this altitude.
Thanks for the answer.

[JAF737]

Do the pilots have to wear O2 masks @ FL430?
Time of usefull consciousness is really short @ this altitude.
Thanks for the answer.

Time is still sufficient to get your O2 mask in case of a decompression.
So the answer is no

[sn26567]

Where can i find a seating plan of the JAF 787? Thanks.

Same configuration
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Thomso ... _787-8.php

avoid seat 7A - NO window

I believe the JAF Dreamliner has 3 classes? Economy, Economy + and Comfort class... at least that's what I understood from their dreamliner site.

The JAF 787 does not have the same configuration as the Thomson one. Thomson has 284 seats in 2 classes, JAF 300 seats in 3 classes.

[Bracebrace]

It also has incredible performance at high weights. Close to MTOW, you could already climb up to FL360/380, while a B767 would be stuck at FL340 or something like that.

FL360, is that max, or taking into account cg position and some turbulence margin?

Modern widebody twinjets are amazing. The max thrust they provide is really only necessary for the last couple of 10 tons close to max TOW. Once you start to do short flights or flights with low loads, it has a huge power reserve. 787 is a long range aircraft, so a 2 hour flight is really "easy" for the bird.

To give you an idea of how values change with weights: for the 777 (numbers are numbers I have in my head, so rough estimates): on some 777 versions, a takeoff close to max structural (so let's say payload and fuel combined adds 200T to the dry weight), will lead to a cruise at FL300/320 with a fuel burn of 8 to 9 tons per hour. If the combined payload+fuel weight drops to below 40T, it can go up to FL410, and the fuel burn drops to 5 tons per hour (sometimes even lower).

PS: the reason why it's FL431 and not FL430 is to allow you to keep you flight level when flying into and over countries like China that use metric flight levels with 1000ft seperation. Flight levels are FL321, 331, 341,...

[Atco EBBR]

PS: the reason why it's FL431 and not FL430 is to allow you to keep you flight level when flying into and over countries like China that use metric flight levels with 1000ft seperation. Flight levels are FL321, 331, 341,...

Thanks for that info, Bracebrace, I was wondering about that...

[Lysexpat]

PS: the reason why it's FL431 and not FL430 is to allow you to keep you flight level when flying into and over countries like China that use metric flight levels with 1000ft seperation. Flight levels are FL321, 331, 341,...

Thanks for that info, Bracebrace, I was wondering about that...

I don't think this is correct.
In China the separation is 300m and not 1000ft.
13100m is 42980ft so there is no need for a level 431.
I think 431 is the level they achieved during certification.