Jetstar's 787 Dreamliner.


It was a exciting morning as I looked forward to my first Dreamliner flight operated by Jetstar. I was browsing for flights and saw the opportunity to fly the 787 via the international terminal which was cheaper by miles than Qantas or Virgin so the decision to fly on Jetstar it was. Morning came and I was out of bed and into the car by 0930 for my journey to the airport which took 20 minutes. I had to ensure I was checked in one hour before the flight departed so I quickly made my way towards the empty check in desks at T2. 


With a quick I.D check by the desk agent she issued my boarding pass and stuck on a bright orange Domestic sticker which I had to hold onto so I could clear immigration at both ends.

The plane looked very short and stubby from the outside.


Boarding commenced not long after I arrived to the gate and I waited for passengers to board before I eagerly made my way down the jet bridge towards the 787.  Sawasde, and welcome onboard sir, to your left please. That line confused me for a second until I realised the mini economy cabin was in front of the galley and doors 2L. I also thought I was on a flight to Bangkok as 99% of the crew were from Thailand besides the customer service manager Dee who was Sydney based.

VH-VKE would be the plane operating the flight which was shiny and spankingly only six weeks old since her first flight which had the fresh and new plane smell once on board with seat's and exterior still new and fresh. 

I found my seat of 10J and as expected the section of the plane was empty with the majority of passengers sitting down back of the plane. I had three seats to myself but due to the fixed armrest's I used the other seats to place my jacket and spread out my belongings. 


The seating was moderately comfortable but as time ages and depending on how well care is taken of the plane the seating cushions could eventually be uncomfortable for a long haul flight. The seating width was accommodating and gave me space to move around. 
 
Width of the seat.
 
Knee room.


 

Legroom was very adequate for the short flight although on longer flight's then selecting the bulkhead would be a higher desire as space is the key element for comfort while flying plus a bonus is that there was no seat in front hence no one to recline and take up additional space. 

Below the seat was a universal power plug which would be used for power on longer flights, I found the usb port located on the entertainment device was more convenient for charging the Iphone during the flight. 

In seat universal power plug and airbag. 


It took a bit of pressure and pulling to extract the very responsive entertainment device as it was relatively new so the joints were very stiff, the device responded to the light touch of a finger so I didn't need to sit and jab at the device to scroll through sections and windows. The device had a variety of movies, TV shows and music for sale which were around $10AUD per movie.  


Contents of the in seat pocket. 

Boeing air vents and lighting. 

Parked next to us was another one of Jetstar's Dreamliner and not far from that was a Royal Brunei's Dreamliner which made it feel like it was Dreamliner central at Melbourne Airport.



As our plane pushed back a the safety demonstration began which was very self explanatory and thought of as contents were broken down and explained thoroughly as to why this and that can't be done and what to do on board in case of an emergency. It was very different to a standard full service carrier's demonstration as they don't go into detail which was very refreshing to the ears. 




The taxi towards the runway was a short one as we turned and the next to silent GE engines thrusted and emitted a silent hum as the plastic plane soared down the runway. It was one of the smoothest take off's I've ever experienced as the plane rushed down the runway, there were no bumps or overhead compartment shaking as the plane gently penetrated the sky leaving Melbourne behind.  


All clear for take off.

Almost silent engine.


Another one of Jetstar's Dreamliner. 



Leave the world behind you.


Once we were above the clouds the window's automatically adjusted the tint into a darker shade to keep eyes from squinting as the bright sun put the windows to test. The tint and shade could be controlled by a button below the massive window to preference which was a smart and cool idea. 

Boeing shades.

The differences - the left is maximum tint while right is neutral. 

Once the plane was at altitude and the seatbelt sign was switched off, I sprung out of my seat and began exploring the beautifully designed space. The 787-800 looks like a very short and stubby plane from the outside but looks can be deceiving! It was very spacious and different once inside. The curved sky interior and mood lighting definitely had a great comfort impact and enhanced the feel of the cabin to be a more relaxing and spacious environment.  

I snapped up some pictures of the mini economy cabin as the flight attendants rushed to the rear galley to prepare on board sales.


 Large entertainment screens with usb charging facilities. 

The bulkhead seat's armrest's include the meal tray's as well as the entertainment remote.

I ventured to the back of the plane as the flight attendant's made their way forward with the buy on board trolley which they offered to guest's and seemed to sell a few items by the looks of it. On board the flight were roughly 50 guest's which was a delight as that meant I had plenty of room and space to move about the cabin. 

In flight sales.

Overhead compartment. 

Curves.

A view from the rear of the plane.


Colourful lighting curves.

Standard black leather seat colour scheme of Jetstar.

Flight attendant gave me headphones.


I made my way towards the left wing and saw row 44 which instantly caught my attention as it had the most amount of legroom in economy if you are sitting in seat's 44 B or C as seat A is right against the door. This row is sold under extra legroom which has a fee from $24AUD depending on flight route.

Exit seating magazines and safety card's are in a slot by the wall.

 Heaps of legroom on row 44.


Bulkhead seats in row 44.

Beautiful left wing flex. 



A snap of the lavatory which also included mood lighting.

I made my way towards the right side of the plane and plonked myself down in row 54G&H. There are only two seats in 54/55 AC and GH as the curvature of the plane which makes it perfect if you are travelling in a party of two and don't mind being seated down back.  

a bit of knee space in the standard seating row.


To activate the entertainment unit all you need to do is push the orange sensor button.

Couples seating.

The pilot announced he would begin descent into Sydney and asked crew to prepare the cabin for landing. I checked my watch and we had only been in the air flying for 23 minutes which was really a shirt period of time compared to flying in a one aisle aircraft. 

We descended and smoothly touched down at Kingsford Smith airport at 12:45PM which was 15 minutes earlier than the estimated time of arrival which was fantastic. The flight was a very smooth and fantastic first experience flying on Jetstar. Crew were very fun, friendly and polite which made it a pleasant flight combined with being on the Boeing Dreamliner. I wouldn't mind flying again on Jetstar as it was a simple and straight forward pay for what you want flight. 




16 comments:

  1. Cant wait to sit in this in Oct 2015

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  2. Great write up! Just booked a seat in 44C. ;)

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  3. Thank you! Hope you'll enjoy your flight! :)

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  4. Excellent article, thank you!

    My concern over Row 10 is not being able to stretch out my legs underneath the seat in front... because there is no seat. We are flying to Honolulu from Sydney which is near enough 10 hours. Being 6'2" tall, I shudder at the thought of not being able to straighten my legs, so your photos were extremely helpful.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Thanks for the detailed review. I've flown on this plane many times and never realised they had the under-seat power point. Handy to know for the next flight.

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