The Qantas Group is to open a new $100 million base at Melbourne Airport to maintain Jetstar’s 787 fleet and will likely become the base for Qantas’s mainline 787s in due course. The facility will also provide crew training, incorporating a 787 simulator and a cabin trainer.
Jetstar will lease a hangar from the Qantas Group to undertake line maintenance for the 787.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said: “We are delighted that Melbourne, the home of Jetstar Airways, will also be the Australian home of the 787. The 787 has a strong connection to Victoria with parts of the aircraft manufactured at Boeing Aerostructures Australia’s facility in Port Melbourne.”
Jetstar said 48 engineers and 10 pilots had already completed training for the 787, with more training currently underway. Cabin crew will enter training in the coming weeks.
The first of 14 787s arrives in September and will be progressively introduced onto Jetstar’s international network to Hawaii, Phuket, Bali and Japan after a proving period operating domestically.
The announcement follows an investment by Jetstar of $1.5 million in new training and apprenticeship investment at its heavy maintenance base at Newcastle, where the airline offered 10, four-year apprenticeships.
