Jetstar Airways has announced a significant investment aimed at modernizing the interiors of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. This initiative aims to enhance the onboard experience for its customers, providing them with greater comfort and options during the flight.
The upgrade of the Dreamliner fleet cabins will cover both economy and business classes. New seats and an upgraded onboard connectivity system will be installed. Additionally, the crews will have a new rest area, enabling Jetstar to operate longer flights.
Currently, Jetstar operates a fleet of 11 Boeing 787-8 aircraft, accumulating over 54,000 flight hours. These planes are deployed on international routes such as Bali, Honolulu, Tokyo, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok, offering over 18 million seats to travelers.
Stephanie Tully, CEO of Jetstar Group, stated: «This multimillion-dollar fleet renovation will allow us to offer our customers more choices, comfort, and services on long-haul international flights. Our current business class offering on the 787 is very popular, so we will double the number of business class seats, and to keep customers connected in the air, we will introduce onboard Wi-Fi.»
«The new crew rest areas mean that our crew can rest adequately to operate longer flights, opening up the possibility of new and exciting destinations like Sri Lanka and India,» added Tully.
Erika Pearson, Vice President of Commercial Sales and Marketing for Boeing in Southeast Asia and Oceania, congratulated Jetstar: «Congratulations to our partners at Jetstar for the first of many decades flying with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This milestone is a testament to Jetstar’s dedication to investing in market-leading environmental performance and providing unparalleled comfort to passengers in Australia and around the world.»
New Seats and Improved Connectivity
All economy and business class seats will be replaced with state-of-the-art ergonomic designs from RECARO Aircraft Seating. Turista-class seats will feature smartphone and tablet holders on the backrest, a power outlet to keep devices charged, and six-position headrests for neck support.
Jetstar assures that despite changing the seats, the distance between them will remain the same. In the business class cabin, seats will have device holders, power outlets, headrests, and ample recline. To accommodate additional business class seats, the total number of seats on the plane (business and economy) will be reduced by 10, to 325.
For the first time, Jetstar customers will be able to connect to onboard Wi-Fi, allowing them to browse the internet or stream content from Jetstar’s entertainment collection. Customers can access in-flight connectivity using their own devices.
New Crew Rest Area
In the rear of the plane, above the economy cabin, a new crew rest area will be installed. This will feature reclining beds, allowing crew members to rest adequately on longer flights. The installation of this new area will free up eight seats in the business class cabin that were designated for crew rest.
Jetstar has not yet evaluated potential long-haul destinations that it could add to its network by installing this rest area on its 787s. The multimillion-dollar investment in each aircraft will be completed progressively during scheduled maintenance starting in late 2025. Currently, detailed design work is underway, and more details will be provided in the coming months.
