First Boeing 787 for Vietnam Airlines Rolls Off Assembly Line

Short but sweet news: FlightGlobal reports that Vietnam Airlines' (VNA's) first Boeing 787-9 (B789) has completed assembly and has rolled out of the hangar.

Photo courtesy Vietnam Airlines/FlightGlobal

Its next stop will be the paint shop to put on the VNA livery, then test flights will commence.

VNAFlyer previously broke the story about interior cabin configurations.

This first B789 is leased, and will have 28 business class seats from Cirrus and 283 slimline economy seats from B/E Aerospace.

While the leased aircraft will not have a deluxe economy section, VNA's purchased airframes will be configured with 28 business, 35 deluxe economy, and 211 economy seats.

The first B789 will be deployed on the Hanoi (HAN) to London-Heathrow (LHR) route commencing June 29, and split time with the Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)-LHR sector.

Vietnam Airlines' Inaugural 787-9 Flight to London-Heathrow on June 29

The inaugural international service for Vietnam Airlines' (VNA's) new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (B789) is currently scheduled to be on June 29, 2015, flying from Hanoi (HAN) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR).

This replaces service currently flown on VNA's Boeing 777-200ER (B772).

Flight VN055 will depart HAN at 12:30am for an overnight flight, arriving at LHR at 6:40am.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

The first return flight, VN054, will depart from LHR at 2:45pm on June 29, and arrive back at HAN the next day at 7:50am.

Then on June 30, the B789 will operate a revenue domestic flight for repositioning, Flight VN237 from HAN to Saigon (SGN), departing at 10:00am and landing at 12:05pm.

The first B789 flight out of SGN will depart early on July 1 at 12:05am and arrive at LHR at 6:40am the same day.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines: In-Flight Wi-Fi to be Available on New 787, A350 Aircraft

It seems that while the equipment information has been loaded, VNA is using their B772 seatmaps as placeholders, so if while one can select a seat on a flight scheduled to be on a B789, it's very likely to change.

A screenshot of the seatmap that appears on the LHR routes operated by the B789,
though it's clearly the configuration for the B772. Image source: Reader Andrew R.

A blog reader reports that he was able to select a business class seat on the map, even though he is currently booked in a premium economy seat. I cautioned him to:

• Recheck for new seat assignments when VNA loads the final B789 seatmap into the system; and,
• Prepare to ask for a refund, since the first 4 B789s are slated to arrive with no deluxe economy seating.

(H/T: Andrew R.)

Vietnam Airlines to move London operations to Heathrow on March 31

SkyTeam flyers will soon have another comfortable option to Southeast Asia

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It took 7 years, but Vietnam Airlines (VNA) has finally secured slots at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) and will shift its operations away from Gatwick Airport (LGW) beginning on March 31, 2015.

Image source: SkyTeam

VNA will be located in LHR's Terminal 4 with other SkyTeam alliance partners and giving Golden Lotus Plus (GLP) Platinum, SkyTeam Elite Plus, and premium class flyers access to the wonderful joint SkyTeam Lounge at LHR.

VNA has been flying to LGW since 2011. The 4-times weekly London service, split between Saigon (SGN) and Hanoi (HAN), is currently operated by the aging Boeing 777-200ER (B772) fleet, but will eventually see VNA's new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (B789) plying the route, with an eventual buildup to daily service.

An additional frequency from HAN will be added when VNA moves to LHR.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

With the introduction of B789 service comes modern, lie-flat seats in business class, as well as a revamped economy cabin. However, premium economy will be not be available, at least initially, as VNA will receive its leased B789s first, which will not be equipped with a Deluxe Economy section.

VNA had previously announced its intention to begin revenue B789 service on July 1, but I feel that's a bit optimistic... I think August is a more realistic timeline.