Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) has taken delivery of its first B787-9 following a handing-over ceremony at Everett on Monday, October 16.

One of eight such aircraft on order from Boeing (BOE, Washington National), VH-ZNA (msn 39038) will be ferried to Sydney Kingsford Smith later this week ahead of its deployment on domestic Australian flights next month. With these crew training flights completed, the aircraft will then make its international debut on the Melbourne Tullamarine-Los Angeles International route on December 15, 2017, followed by Melbourne – London Heathrow (via Perth International) from March 2018.

Qantas will split the deployment of the eight B787s between its Melbourne base and, from 2H18 onwards, its Brisbane International base. There, the B787 will be used to run Qantas's Brisbane-Los Angeles-New York JFK service.

Qantas has options for a further fifteen B787s with deliveries guaranteed through to 2020. It also has purchase rights for a further thirty of the model for deliveries through 2025.