All Nippon Airlines seems to have some growing pains with it’s introductory long haul 787 service, with 2 of the 10 flights operating between Tokyo-Haneda and Frankfurt so far.
Whilst ANA has five 787’s so far, only one of them is equipped for long haul duties (JA805A), with a failure with the aircraft flap system on the ground at Toyko-Haneda with one incident, and computer failure with the other incident.
In both cases, NH203/204 was cancelled.
When the 787 isn’t scheduled on the Tokyo-Frankfurt run, it’s scheduled to be run with a Boeing 777-200ER.
ANA in this case, as a new aircraft and a launch carrier, they’re expecting teething issues with the aircraft, and are working with Boeing to solve them. In some cases the 787 fleet is performing very well, with a 96.3% on-time reliability on Japan Domestic operations. The number may look a bit low, but considering the group average is 96.5%, it’s not a bad show to say the least.
Hopefully the 787 international performance – whilst low in numbers so far – improves in the next few weeks.
All I’m saying is this: If a Boeing 777-200ER turns up at the gate when I go to Japan… I won’t be amused to say the least….
I flew the route on 1/28 with the 787 (trip report in milepoint.com). I did notice that the trip on 1/26 had been cancelled and was a little concerned.