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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Some Delhi spotters clicked the beauty coming in. I guess we will have to wait for them to put up their collections - on JP/A.net/Flickr/...
I have seen a sneak preview of two pictures - I can well imagine how lovely it must have been for the spotter himself!
Cheers, Sumantra.

Devesh · Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:18 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Devesh-ji: are you right now in Delhi to cover the event? Any pictures from you?
Cheers, Sumantra.

abhigopal · Member Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 172

http://yfrog.com/g0bk4kzwj

Source Twitter:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

The Delhi spotters covered the event really well, as I get to see them is good resolution (lucky me, since they have not shared them yet). I hope they get through to A.net/JP, very soon!
Cheers, Sumantra.

aeroblogger · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:18 am Post subject:

I had to look up what a "tryst" is in order to understand AI's press release.

The dictionary says:

CHS · Member Joined: 18 Mar 2010 Posts: 311

aeroblogger · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:17 am Post subject:

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Copyright AI 0001

more landing pics and vids here - http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/2012/09/photos-air-indias-first-boeing-787.html
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Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:11 pm Post subject:

What have they done to the J class? It looks like a Premium Economy cabin. Why didn't they stuff the same 777 J class into the 787?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmKrHZjAKj8&feature=player_embedded#!

Rolling Eyes

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Yeah.

Devesh · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:00 pm Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:33 pm Post subject:

747-237 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:36 pm Post subject:

VT-ANH begins her to get on her way home, after delivery at CHS

And finally, for Air India;

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me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Spot on spiderguy!

As for the J seat, ET has the same seat; just with better colours, , more bling and fling. Essentially the same stuff with more make up.

Its the colour and and seat cover that makes it look bad, nothing else.

For all practical purposes, AI have got the config absolutely spot on, on a typical 6 hour run, AFAIK an AI 787 will burn around 28 tons of fuel, doing the more superficial calculation; 28 tons of fuel would cost AI, (going by current prices) around 2.01 million rupees, they sell 200 Y class one way tickets at a 15K average fare for a journey that long, bam, you end up with 3 million bucks. typical 5-6 hour flights are to SIN/HKG, places where ground services are damn cheap; so say on a BOM-SIN flight, if all AI does is sell 200 Y seats, at below the standard price (something AI is known to do); not only do they cover all costs, they even make a bit of money.

Granted they won't sell 200 Y seats on BOM-SIN every time but J won't be empty everytime either!

Do keep in mind, the current ATF prices i've used (72K per KL) are the highest they've ever been in the history of Indian Aviation.
_________________
Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

- Greg House

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:16 pm Post subject:

Then again, it depends on what routes these 787s are plugged on. The thought process when they were ordered was to directly replace the A310 fleet, but I really can't see AI restarting any of their Gulf destinations (I'm referring strictly to AI mind you, not IC or IX), let alone fly to anywhere exotic they mooted in that "task list" from back in 2006: Moscow, Durban, Houston and whatnot.

So I reckon we'll have to wait and watch. Even if it's an Australia run, which sounds more likely than any of the others, that J seat is a complete downer and is nowhere in the ballpark of wooing frequent fliers, who in turn will be sucked in by the SQs and the TGs.
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Yeah.

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

Those J Class seats are the same ones that airlines like TK use in their new 777s and 333s. They're some of the best in the sky. Now admittedly, AI have adopted an ugly color scheme in J, and the seats don't have enough "bling" and geegaws to make them look as good as TK's.

As for Y, 9-abreast is the norm on the 787s.

Only JL and NH have adopted an 8-abreast cabin, and that's because they've put the 787 on new business-oriented routes for which even Y seats are sold at a premium. Every other carrier - QR, ET, LAN, UA, CZ - that is, or will be operating the 787 in the near future is 9-abreast.

747-237 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:02 pm Post subject:

Some more talk heard through the GrapeWine (yes), but being Air India, please take this with a grain of salt ... & some tequila.

There is some talk at AI, of bringing back the "Your Palace in the Sky" slogan for the 787s, a throwback to the arrival of the 747-200s. If this happens, the same is to be painted on the Dreamliners.

There is also rethinking about the naming concept for the Dreamliners .... yes, no, and now again, yes. If this happens, the first 787s (VT-ANH) may be named "Aravalli". (I have no information on the naming pattern for future aircraft; either topic or alphabets).

This may have already been discussed, but the initial domestic routes for the 787s are expected to be:
DEL - Amritsar/Kolkata/Trivandrum/Chennai/Bangalore
Initial intl. destinations for the 787s are expected to be (including some rather interesting intended new destinations):
Rome, Milan, Australia, Barcelona, Madrid, Nairobi, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo, and ... Uzbekistan

VT-ANH is expected to enter revenue service in about 10 days after ground crews have had their way with her.

Once again, please do not take the above as gospel. Being AI, these plans have perhaps already been scrapped !
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aeroblogger · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:18 pm Post subject:

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

The Palace in the Sky moniker is great, but then you have to deliver a level of superior service, the kind that AI used to deliver back when its 747-200s first entered service.

aeroblogger · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 11:00 pm Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 11:54 pm Post subject:

aeroblogger · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:14 am Post subject:

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

aeroblogger · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:54 am Post subject:

CHS · Member Joined: 18 Mar 2010 Posts: 311

indopaki · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 479 Location: Pakistan

aeroblogger · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:05 am Post subject:

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

aeroblogger · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:50 am Post subject:

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

The choice of colours certainly makes the J cabin look downright awful : like the 70s ingested a lot of sambhar and mirchi chucked it up all over the cabin. But if the seat turns out to be comfortable enough, then the colours will matter little.

The configuration isn't too bad either. AI should keep the number of J seats at a minimum and try to stuff in as many Y seats as possible. The extra pitch and width is nice and all, but these things will matter very little keeping in mind the market AI are going to attract : the masochists, the price-conscious and the occasional fan-child.

And whilst I too like the "Palace in the Sky" concept, how long before the 787s too begin to resemble flying zopadpattis? Of course, goes without saying, that that too will be some minister's fault.

Neither the good or the bad will matter in the end though, because no matter what configuration or layout or colour scheme they pick, AI will never turn a profit.

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:17 am Post subject:

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

Lufthansa can get away with a lot, because they have a dizzying network and a reputation for efficiency and reliability. So a substandard cabin and a hellish Frankfurt do far less damage than they would in the absence of LH's other strengths.

Similarly, for all the negatives Jet have (and there is a catalogue of them, as I point out on a daily basis), they do have a solid hard product and are rather reliable. That gives them wiggle room.

Air India have none of the above. Not the network, not the reliability, not the efficiency, not the quality. In the absence of those, even the most amazing hard product isn't going to help draw passengers.

Besides offering a handful of ULH routes (that bleed criminal amounts of money), the only thing they can (and do) compete on is price. And I use the word compete very loosely, because selling a large number of seats at well below cost is dumping, not competition.
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rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

When can we expect this a/c to start flying and what would be the inagural route.
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Rajeev

747-237 · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:55 pm Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 4:16 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

The grapeview has it that the first route may be DEL-LKO and back, AI 411 0715-0815, and the return, 0915-1015. W-H-A-T? No, LKO may be the MoCA's home airport, but who could have thought of this one? How well can Amausi handle 787-Mausi?

Caliguy · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:50 pm Post subject:

Nimish · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:52 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi