Japan Airlines’ 787 Dreamliner rolls out after landing at YVR.
Written for Skies Magazine – Skiesmag.com
YVR-Vancouver International Airport’s first scheduled Boeing 787 service began Monday morning with the arrival of Japan Airlines Flight #18 from Narita Airport (NRT) in Tokyo. The Dreamliner landed a few minutes ahead of its scheduled 10 a.m. (PT) arrival time, and was greeted at the gate by officials from Japan Airlines, the Government of B.C., the Government of Japan, the Vancouver Airport Authority, and Boeing.
The JAL 787-8 will initially be flying the YVR-NRT route on Mondays, before moving to daily flights over the next month. Japan Airlines has been serving Vancouver for 45 years, and the high-tech Dreamliner will replace the venerable Boeing 767-300.
The inbound flight to Vancouver leaves Tokyo at 6:05 p.m., and with a jetstream-assisted flight duration of 8hr 55min, arrives at YVR at 10 a.m. on the same day it departs. The return Flight #17 leaves YVR at 1 p.m., and with a much longer flight time of 10hr 30min, arrives in Tokyo at 4:30 p.m. the next day.
This inaugural 787 service for YVR is expected to be followed by additional 787 announcements through 2014, YVR’s “Year of the Dreamliner.”