Customers wanting to be the first to fly on Jetstar’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be able to take to the skies with the announcement of the airline’s first domestic services from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and Cairns.

The announcement of domestic services coincides with Jetstar today taking delivery of the aircraft during an official handover ceremony at Boeing’s Everett plant in Seattle attended by Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce and Jetstar Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka.

The game-changing aircraft is the first of 14 Dreamliners destined for the Jetstar international fleet and provides a step change in efficiency and customer experience.

“Today is a historic milestone for the Qantas Group and Jetstar as we welcome the most advanced passenger aircraft ever constructed to the fleet,” Mr Joyce said.

“In just ten short years, Jetstar has grown to be the largest low fares group of carriers in the Asia Pacific, carrying more than 100 million passengers. The 787 will set up Jetstar for another decade of growth.

“Jetstar revolutionised long haul low fares travel and today that continues with the introduction of the 787, an aircraft that burns 20 per cent less fuel and gives passengers a more comfortable flying experience.”

Jetstar Airways’ fleet of 787s will each carry 335 customers and feature a 21 passenger business class cabin and 314 in economy with inflight entertainment in every seat. Key features include larger windows, better cabin atmosphere to reduce jetlag and technology to minimise turbulence.

In what is a standard process for the introduction of all new types of aircraft in Australia, Jetstar is working with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to vary Jetstar’s Air Operators Certificate to include the 787 Dreamliner ahead of its first commercial flight.

Jetstar Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the domestic services for the first 787 flights will soon be on sale for travel from Wednesday 13 November* 2013.

“We will introduce the 787 on services from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and Melbourne to Cairns for just over four weeks before we launch international services towards the end of the year,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“Jetstar customers will have the chance to fly in a larger and more spacious cabin, enjoy gate to gate in-flight entertainment and arrive at their destination more refreshed thanks to a lower cabin altitude to reduce the impact of jet lag.

“There’s more space for carry-on luggage, the aircraft is quieter and a LED lighting system provides for a relaxing onboard experience.

“The entire Jetstar team is very excited to have the 787 take to Australian skies and subject to the certification of the newest standard of even more fuel efficient engines, we expect to have two more 787s entering service by early next year.”

The 787s will be progressively introduced onto Jetstar’s international network, operating to destinations currently served by the airline’s A330s including Hawaii, Phuket, Bali and Japan.*

Delivery of the 787-8s to Jetstar will see its existing A330s transferred to Qantas, following a refit of the cabins.

This will then enable the progressive retirement of Qantas’ Boeing 767 fleet by mid-2015.

The Qantas Group has a further 50 options and purchase rights for a mix of B787-8 and -9 aircraft, available from 2016.

*Subject to government and regulatory approval