Qatarair Dreamliner In May

[THAIPHUKET]

I´m booked for beginning of May with a Dreamliner to Frankfurt, aircraft may not be up in the air again by then.

Any idea what Qatar is using as an replacement? I´m too spoiled by their excellent business class that I don´t hope they are resorting to older planes, rented.

[breadbin]

To be honest mate, as long ad it gets you there safely who cares!!!!

I think Qatar to LHR is on 777 and A340. Last time we flew them, was ok.

Good luck

[yermanee]

I'm booked for May 1st to Brussels.

BKK/DOH/BKK B777

DOH/BRU/DOH A330

From what I've seen the business class seats in the dreamliner are very narrow, and I'm glad for the B777 and A330

Yermanee

[RabC]

I'm booked for May 1st to Brussels.

BKK/DOH/BKK B777

DOH/BRU/DOH A330

From what I've seen the business class seats in the dreamliner are very narrow, and I'm glad for the B777 and A330

Yermanee

I like the 777 but no longer keen on the 330 in business class as not flat bed

[yermanee]

I'm booked for May 1st to Brussels.

BKK/DOH/BKK B777

DOH/BRU/DOH A330

From what I've seen the business class seats in the dreamliner are very narrow, and I'm glad for the B777 and A330

Yermanee

I like the 777 but no longer keen on the 330 in business class as not flat bed

Indeed they are angled lie flat but that doesn't bother me much as long as the seat next to me is or free/or person who wants to

sleep also.

Yermanee

[lomatopo]

UA has grounded their six (6) 787's through June 5 - that might the earliest they might return to service assuming a reasonable fix is found and implemented soon.

I was on NRT-DEN-NRT in April, just to try the 787 but changed my ticket a few days ago - still in a lie-flat J seat on a 777.

LO has pulled their two (2) 787's through October!

Here's hoping they get a solution soon.

[oldsailor35]

Booked my first QATAR flight BKK-LON end of august, hope they are ok ! Was a frequent flyer with Thai Air, but their fares are getting too high although i have never had reason to complain about the service.

[THAIPHUKET]

Yeramee, interesting that seats are more narrow in the dreamliner,
that was the reason why I switched 3 years ago from Etihad. I´m really
normal sized but the shoulder space was like being in a fish can. Did they add more seats?

You really wonder what these seat designer are doing and the testers as well.
Oldsailer, know nothing about Thai Intern, don´t like very old planes
but I doubt you´ll find yourself more spoiled than in the business class
lounge in Doha.

In flight service impeccable, and seats/beds simply grate.

[oldsailor35]

Yeramee, interesting that seats are more narrow in the dreamliner,

that was the reason why I switched 3 years ago from Etihad. I´m really

normal sized but the shoulder space was like being in a fish can. Did they add more seats?

You really wonder what these seat designer are doing and the testers as well.

Oldsailer, know nothing about Thai Intern, don´t like very old planes

but I doubt you´ll find yourself more spoiled than in the business class

lounge in Doha.

In flight service impeccable, and seats/beds simply grate.

Only had reason to complain of hard seats once and that was with Royal Brunei Air..........never again !

[RabC]

Yeramee, interesting that seats are more narrow in the dreamliner,

that was the reason why I switched 3 years ago from Etihad. I´m really

normal sized but the shoulder space was like being in a fish can. Did they add more seats?

You really wonder what these seat designer are doing and the testers as well.

Oldsailer, know nothing about Thai Intern, don´t like very old planes

but I doubt you´ll find yourself more spoiled than in the business class

lounge in Doha.

In flight service impeccable, and seats/beds simply grate.

Initially I too disliked the ETIHAD seats but have got used to them and now quite like them and the privacy they offer. I believe the Thai A380 is the same design in Business. Also the new EVA look similar.

[beano2274]

The website is showing 777 to LHR or 340-600. But did notice some listings for 787 in May, so we live and hope

[rekkie]

Be sure to take your own batteries!!! or extinguisher....!!

Better still wait for the A350xwb....

[tartempion]

Expertflyer is still showing 788 on DOH-FRA for may.

Yermanee, I fly EY business to BRU later this month because i prefer the privacy (always have window seat) and hate the QR angled lie flats and the busing at DOH.

Paid 73.xxx baht on a promotion, remember QR had similar promotion 1 day earlier.

The narrow seats don't bother me.

Thai is flying direct to BRU 3x week with new 2 class B777/300ER as of april 16, 46 or 48 business class seats?

Way to expensive at 120k baht

I plan to fly to BRU and YUL in September, so far 9W has best price 120k to BRU and onwards to Toronto, might do some Toronto visiting.

Normal routing would be BKK-BRU on EY and AC BRU-YUL but saw price increase on AC last month 635 euro to 750 cattle class and 19xx to 23xx business, add 2000 for EY to BRU...cattle class BRU-YUL doesn't bother me, although I would prefer the return night flight in C...

Edited March 2, 2013 by tartempion

[yermanee]

Expertflyer is still showing 788 on DOH-FRA for may.

Yermanee, I fly EY business to BRU later this month because i prefer the privacy (always have window seat) and hate the QR angled lie flats and the busing at DOH.

Paid 73.xxx baht on a promotion, remember QR had similar promotion 1 day earlier.

The narrow seats don't bother me.

Indeed the busing in DOH can be a pain in the a...

Etihad lost me when they wanted me to pay for a replacement member card which they never sent me in the first place.

BTW I paid 72.... also.

Groetjes

Yermanee

[h5kaf]

Booked my first QATAR flight BKK-LON end of august, hope they are ok ! Was a frequent flyer with Thai Air, but their fares are getting too high although i have never had reason to complain about the service.

I have flown with QR for a few years now, always business, and whilst their in flight service is excellent their timings at HKT and BKK to LHR are often at inconvenient slots and their ground service in Doha is pathetic. Their flights seem to be mostly fully booked and therefore their prices have risen and seem to be permanently high. My biggest gripe is that their frequent flier scheme is useless. I have over 120,000 miles and have tried on numerous occasions to get a flight on miles, only to be told that there are no free mileage seats available. (Was offered a seat from BKK to LHR once with a layover in DOH of 16 hours).

No matter how much we moan I guess we are stuck with rising prices and poorer service - the alternative routes via Moscow or Mumbai don't bear thinking about!!

[RabC]

Booked my first QATAR flight BKK-LON end of august, hope they are ok ! Was a frequent flyer with Thai Air, but their fares are getting too high although i have never had reason to complain about the service.

I have flown with QR for a few years now, always business, and whilst their in flight service is excellent their timings at HKT and BKK to LHR are often at inconvenient slots and their ground service in Doha is pathetic. Their flights seem to be mostly fully booked and therefore their prices have risen and seem to be permanently high. My biggest gripe is that their frequent flier scheme is useless. I have over 120,000 miles and have tried on numerous occasions to get a flight on miles, only to be told that there are no free mileage seats available. (Was offered a seat from BKK to LHR once with a layover in DOH of 16 hours).

No matter how much we moan I guess we are stuck with rising prices and poorer service - the alternative routes via Moscow or Mumbai don't bear thinking about!!

Have a look at Malaysian via KL they occasionally have some good business class offers and also use A380.

[sbk]

My dreamliner flight to the US in April was cancelled and I had to re-schedule (United) no email no notice, if I hadn't logged in to check I would have been in trouble eh?

May return is still set for dreamliner but guess I will wait and see if that happens or not

[lomatopo]

My dreamliner flight to the US in April was cancelled and I had to re-schedule (United) no email no notice, if I hadn't logged in to check I would have been in trouble eh?

May return is still set for dreamliner but guess I will wait and see if that happens or not

UAL has pulled the 787's from their schedule until June 5:

"Update regarding Boeing 787 flights

Last updated February 22, 2013

In compliance with an FAA directive issued January 16, we’ve temporarily suspended operation of our fleet of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and are using other aircraft to operate the affected flights. As you may have heard or read, Boeing, the FAA and other governmental agencies are working to resolve issues affecting batteries on two 787s operated by Japanese airlines. We are waiting on completion of this review, which is the next step toward restoring 787 flights. We have removed the 787s from our flight schedule through June 5"

If you were on NRT-LAX-NRT (32/33)they should have moved you to the 777 (801/802), different flight numbers and slightly different schedules; if NRT-DEN-NRT (138/139) then you'll have to re-route via LAX, SFO or SEA.

You should proactively manage your May return now.

[RabC]

My dreamliner flight to the US in April was cancelled and I had to re-schedule (United) no email no notice, if I hadn't logged in to check I would have been in trouble eh? May return is still set for dreamliner but guess I will wait and see if that happens or not

UAL has pulled the 787's from their schedule until June 5:"Update regarding Boeing 787 flightsLast updated February 22, 2013In compliance with an FAA directive issued January 16, weve temporarily suspended operation of our fleet of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and are using other aircraft to operate the affected flights. As you may have heard or read, Boeing, the FAA and other governmental agencies are working to resolve issues affecting batteries on two 787s operated by Japanese airlines. We are waiting on completion of this review, which is the next step toward restoring 787 flights. We have removed the 787s from our flight schedule through June 5"If you were on NRT-LAX-NRT (32/33)they should have moved you to the 777 (801/802), different flight numbers and slightly different schedules; if NRT-DEN-NRT (138/139) then you'll have to re-route via LAX, SFO or SEA.You should proactively manage your May return now.

Why should a fare paying passenger pro actively manage their paid for booking, surely that's up to the airline and/or travel agents? Or do I detect someone who works within the buck passing industry?

Long Live Airbus

Edited March 3, 2013 by RabC

[sbk]

I logged in to the website and went to view my reservatiion and that is when I saw the notice that my ticket needed to be reissued and to phone. No, they didn't reschedule me, nor did they notify me which, IMO, they should have done.

However, I should add that they just changed the May return and sent me an email. So if they managed to do that now why couldn't they just do it in the first place?

[RabC]

I logged in to the website and went to view my reservatiion and that is when I saw the notice that my ticket needed to be reissued and to phone. No, they didn't reschedule me, nor did they notify me which, IMO, they should have done.

However, I should add that they just changed the May return and sent me an email. So if they managed to do that now why couldn't they just do it in the first place?

I fully agree, you have a ticket/contract with them so they should do the chasing up not you.

[lomatopo]

sbk, on 03 Mar 2013 - 21:24, said:

I logged in to the website and went to view my reservatiion and that is when I saw the notice that my ticket needed to be reissued and to phone. No, they didn't reschedule me, nor did they notify me which, IMO, they should have done.

However, I should add that they just changed the May return and sent me an email. So if they managed to do that now why couldn't they just do it in the first place?

I always recommend proactively monitoring and managing one's ticketed air reservations periodically as it gives you the most options in the case of weather, schedule or even MX issues. Last week I was on BOS-ORD-NRT-BKK but monitoring weather issues in Chicago was able to change my routing to go via IAD. I made it back to BKK as scheduled, but would not have made it back for a day or two if I had not changed my routing proactively ~! 36 hours before departure.

Were you on the LAX-NRT Dreamliner route? What was your original routing? And what is your current routing? My best guesses are that, with this recent change, they were working though the tens of thousands of affected passengers' PNRs. I suspect that your BKK-USA routing was automagically modified (alternate routing reserved but not ticketed yet) prior to this most recent schedule push to 5 June, but that the ticket needed to be re-issued. Admittedly UA's systems are still a bit unwieldy as a result of the CO merger.

You can set up your UA account to notify you of schedule/reservation changes automatically, via email. I find this to be reasonably reliable, but still check my current reservations at least once a week.

[sbk]

It is set up for email notifications, has been for years

UA fell down on the job, thats all. I can live with it, hasn't screwed up my life any

[sbk]

Although I must say I am disappointed about the dreamliner cancellation, I was really looking forward to having something like 4 hours shaved off my travel time to Denver.

[David48]

Although I must say I am disappointed about the dreamliner cancellation, I was really looking forward to having something like 4 hours shaved off my travel time to Denver.

sbk ... are you a Colorado Lassie?

I spent 6 months in the States and Boulder plus San Diago were the two places that I visited and could easily live there.

But I digress ...

.

[sbk]

Although I must say I am disappointed about the dreamliner cancellation, I was really looking forward to having something like 4 hours shaved off my travel time to Denver.

sbk ... are you a Colorado Lassie?

I spent 6 months in the States and Boulder plus San Diago were the two places that I visited and could easily live there.

But I digress ...

.

No not really, family is there is all. I don't know where the heck I am from anymore!

[lomatopo]

Concern and Canceled Flights as Airlines Wait for 787

By JAD MOUAWAD and CHRISTOPHER DREW

Published: March 1, 2013

Facing continued uncertainty over the fate of the Boeing 787 and its batteries, airlines are canceling more flights and adjusting their routes out of concern that it could be several more months before they can fly passengers on the planes again.

Boeing is trying to convince federal regulators that it has found ways to prevent the hazards with the lithium-ion batteries that led to the grounding of the new planes in January. On Friday, the company met for several hours in Seattle with technical representatives of the airlines to go over those plans. Since mid-January, the eight carriers that received 50 787s have canceled thousands of flights and scrambled to rearrange their schedules.

Because airlines have few planes to spare, the grounding of the 787s has had a ripple effect throughout their networks. United Airlines, for instance, has delayed new services between San Francisco and Paris and between San Francisco and Taipei, Taiwan, for several weeks because planes originally needed on those routes were being used as replacements for the 787s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/business/concern-and-canceled-flights-as-airlines-wait-for-787.html?_r=0

[lomatopo]

NTSB says it will give update on Boeing 787 Dreamliner probe

March 6, 2013 1:42PM

The National Transportation Safety Board said it will give an update Thursday at 10 a.m. on its investigation of the fire aboard a Japan Airlines 787 in Boston in January.

A battery on the plane caught fire while the Boeing Dreamliner was on the ground and empty of passengers. The NTSB said it will issue an “interim factual report” on the battery fire investigation. That fire was followed by an incident a week later in which an ANA jet made an emergency landing after a smell of smoke in the cockpit that came from a battery.

Problems with lithium-ion batteries prompted regulators to ground all 50 of the 787 airplanes in service Jan. 16.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/18673451-420/ana-says-boeing-787-had-power-panel-trouble-three-times.html

ANA says it had Dreamliner power distribution panel trouble three times

Reuters – 12 hrs ago

All Nippon Airways' (ANA) Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner aircraft which made an emergency landing on last Wednesday, is seen through a window of the ANA's Airbus A320 jet, at Takamatsu airport …more

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan 's All Nippon Airways had three instances of electric distribution panel trouble in its Boeing 787 Dreamliner before it grounded the aircraft in January and had to replace the panel twice, a spokesman said. In the most serious case, which took place in April 2012, ANA found burns in the protection circuit and the breaker of an electric distribution panel during on-ground inspections after pilots received a generator-related bug message, ANA spokesman Etsuya Uchiyama said on Thursday.

The company believes a foreign material entered the panel and caused the short circuit. The material is likely to have scattered and damaged the breaker, and ANA replaced the damaged panel, he said. "We believe this is not serious. Fire damage in electric distribution panels are also found in other types of aircraft, and it has no impact on safe operation of aircraft," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/ana-says-had-dreamliner-power-distribution-panel-trouble-190641270--sector.html

[lomatopo]

FAA Approval Near on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Battery Fix

SOURCE: PROGRESSIVE MEDIA - COMPANY NEWS

CREATED: MARCH 8, 2013

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is likely to approve Boeing's plan to resolve the battery problems on 787 Dreamliners within a few days, a move which will allow the company to begin flight tests on the grounded aircraft.

This will be a major step toward returning the grounded Dreamliners to service, according to sources familiar with the matter.

However, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the Wall Street Journal that a thorough review of Boeing's proposed plan is required in order to ensure the fixes are feasible, prior to a final decision on resuming commercial flights of the jetliner.

http://www.aviationpros.com/news/10891291/faa-approval-near-on-boeings-787-dreamliner-battery-fix

[RabC]

Guess they will try any kind of trick to rally share prices..........