Yesterday, an Ethiopian Airlines 787 became the first passenger Dreamliner to take to the skies since the entire fleet was grounded back in January. The flight was operated on the relatively short route from Addis Abada (ADD) – Nairobi (NBO). At a press conference following the landing in Kenya, Boeing announced that 787 deliveries would resume in early May.

So, when can you expect other airlines to re-launch their 787s? Here’s a tentative schedule compiled by reader and 787 enthusiast Mark in SFO:

Air India -> DEL-FRA, DEL-LHR, DEL-CDG May 16th, DEL-BLR & DEL-MAA May 17th, DEL-CCU May 22nd
Ethiopian -> ADD-FRA April 28th, ADD-HRE-LUN May 1st, ADD-DXB May 2nd/May 3rd, ADD-IAD May 4th, ADD-BOM May 16th
JAL -> TBD, likely early-mid June
LAN -> June 1st SCL-LIM-LAX & June 30th SCL-MAD-FRA
LOT -> June 5th WAW-ORD & June 7th WAW-YYZ
NH -> TBD, likely end of May
Qatar -> DOH-LHR May 15th, DOH-MUC May 20th, DOH-FRA May 25th,
United -> IAH-DEN May 31st, DEN-NRT June 10th

Unfortunately, if your planning on redeeming miles for the UA IAH-DEN or DEN-NRT flights, the grounding hasn’t exactly increased award availability. I couldn’t find any business class availability on DEN-NRT for the better part of the year, though economy was quite open.

Busy week in aircraft updates…

First, Delta’s new flat-bed refurbished A330:

JAL’s touchscreen Anytime You Wish on-demand meal service – Boeing 777-300ER Sky Suite:

Alaska’s planned cabin upgrades with power outlets and new enhanced seats:

More on those DL A330 upgrades from Delta’s blog:

Say Hello to the Reinvented A330!

 If you have experienced our recently upgraded 747 BusinessElite cabin, you may be in for some déjà-vu. We are proud to show off a few of the enhancements of the first flat-bed A330-300 to enter service, ship 3301.  This development means that we now have flat-beds flying on every wide-body fleet type. Our 777s, 747s, and 767-400ERs have been completed and our 767-300ERs are well underway. Our entire A330 fleet will be completed by summer 2014. While flat-beds often get the spotlight, there are a whole host of improvements and upgrades to look forward to throughout the aircraft:

BusinessElite

• 34 seats in a 1 x 2 x 1configuration
• Seats are angled toward the windows at outboard locations and toward each other in the center
• New seats are wider than those they replace
• 180º fully flat bed (bed length is 78-80”)
• Direct aisle access with no rear-facing or middle seats
• Electronic seat controls with adjustable lumbar support
• 110v AC in-seat power + USB power
• Adjustable personal LED reading light

Economy Comfort

• 32 seats at 35” pitch & 6” recline in a 2 x 4 x 2 layout
• “Slim-line” seat provides more personal space
• 6-way adjustable headrests
• 110v AC in-seat power + USB power

Economy

• 227 seats at 31-32” pitch and 4” recline in 2 x 4 x 2 layout
• “Slim-line” seat provides more personal space
• 6-way adjustable headrests
• USB power

Personal On Demand Entertainment

• 15.4” screens in BusinessElite; 9” screens in Economy Comfort & Economy
• 350 films
• 130 hours of TV
• 95 hours of premium programming from HBO & Showtime
• 5,000 digital songs
• 27 games
• Moving map

Cabin Enhancements

• New BusinessElite lavatories
• Updated carpet color – a darker, richer shade of blue
• New bulkhead “Sky Diamond” laminates reminiscent of the Sky Club backwall
• Redesigned Economy Comfort & Economy seat covers with additional comfort padding
• New placards and signage.

In response to my post last week, Why the British Airways Card Offer Still Makes Sense,  I’ve received several emails asking for recommendations on uses of Avios points for long-haul flights, unfortunately there aren’t many of value!  Again, I’d take a look back at that post for short and medium haul options that present a much higher return on your points.  However, in this post we’ll take a look at a few of the long-haul options.

Given the outrageous surcharges on flights to Europe, redemptions from North America to South America are a great value with no fuel surcharges on any LAN or American operated flights.

JFK – EZE (Buenos Aires, Argentina) or GRU (Sao Paulo, Brazil) or GIG (Rio, Brazil) on American-> 25,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $23.70 in charges.

JFK – LIM (Lima, Peru) on LAN -> 20,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $45.70 in charges

JFK – SCL (Santiago, Chile) on LAN -> 25,000 each way in coach (2X in Business and 3X in first) and $23.70 in charges

Another decent value proposition are Cathay and JAL awards to Asia.  On these redemptions it’s important to keep in mind that  AA awards normally require fewer miles on these routes and BA charges surcharges on both carriers.

YVR – HKG (Hong Kong) on Cathay -> 30,000 each way in coach or 60,000 in Business and $186.39 in charges

These same one-way flights on the exact date were $5130 in Business and $2989 in Coach.  If purchasing round-trip the flights were $8297 in Business and $5960 in Coach.

YVR – NRT (Tokyo, Japan) on JAL -> 25,000 each way in coach or 50,000 in Business and $337.29 in charges 

These same one-way flights on the exact date are $4989 in Business and $1029 in Coach.  If purchasing round-trip the flights were $5067 in Business and $1649 in Coach. While neither the HKG or NRT option are the best use of your points, they do present a significant savings if you were to outright purchase a business class fare. As stated in the short-haul post, it’s also important to set a value for the BA Avios points you’ve received. One should keep in mind that essentially only a $95 annual fee was paid for the 100,000 Avios points.

Now, it seems that almost all of the emails I received want to know better ways to redeem their points to Europe for a summer holiday.  Take a look back in the short-haul post for the Aer Lingus redemption options, which are by far the best value for your Avios points when redeeming for Europe, thanks to One Mile at a Time for the info.  However, let’s see just how bad the BA redemptions are…

BOS – VCE (Venice, Italy) flying on BA or Iberia -> 55,000 each way in business + $439.48 or 27,500 each way in Coach and $290.67 in charges

These same ROUND-TRIP flights on the exact same mid summer dates are $3780 in Business and $1366 in Coach.  At the one way prices above, you’d be using your miles AND paying $878.96 in Business and $581.34 for Coach.  A savings of $2901.04 in Business but only $784.66 in Coach.  At these levels I’d definitely advise against coach, however business is not a horrible deal.  Yes, you are spending $878 for a ticket but the same ticket would cost almost $4000 on these dates.  For those of you really wanting to fly business to Europe this summer, it’s not a horrible value. Keep in mind the value proposition changes based on the city you are flying into.  Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations.  Let’s take a look at Rome…

JFK  – FCO (Rome, Italy) flying on BA or Iberia-> 55,000 each way in business + $456.40 or 27,500 each way in Coach and $301.40 in charges

These same ROUND-TRIP flights on the exact same mid summer dates are $2841 in Business and $1359 in Coach.  At the one way prices above, you’d be using your miles AND paying $912.80 in Business and $602.80 for Coach.  A savings of $1928.20 in Business but only $756.20 in Coach.  At these levels I’d probably forgo both options, however similar to what I mentioned above, for those set on flying business to Europe this summer it isn’t horrible.  You will be paying $912.80 for a business class round-trip ticket to Europe during the prime tourist season.  Again, if you accumulated these points by signing up for the BA card, you’ve only spent $95 out of pocket.

To conclude, I’ll continue to use my Avios points for the short hops to the Caribbean and Hawaii as well as to South America (and potentially Asia).  However, when redeeming for business tickets on select routes, you can certainly make a European trip this summer work for you.

Does anyone have any other enticing long-haul options using Avios?