Qantas confirmed to ATWOnline last week that its evaluation of the 777-200LR is ongoing despite local media reports indicating it had been shelved. Qantas CFO Peter Gregg told this website that the 777-200LR is "definitely under serious evaluation," although he was coy on the finer details of the operational options under examination.

Originally, the carrier was hoping to offer year-round nonstop Sydney-London service, but that would have required a 120-seat configuration and passengers would have had to pay a 30% fare premium. Late last year, industry analysts suggested to ATWOnline that a 1-hr. fuel-only technical stop westbound in winter would give the airline greater flexibility, allowing operation of the dash 200LR with a 250-seat configuration, including premium economy, with no fare premium.

"The reality is our operational criteria is tougher than other airlines and in service we will find that the 777-200LR will operate nonstop both ways almost year-round," said one Qantas source.

Gregg reconfirmed that the carrier also wants the 777-200LR for other long-haul flights from Sydney to destinations such as Dallas, New York or Frankfurt. It is contending with intense competition from Emirates on routes to Europe via Dubai and also faces the prospect of archrival Singapore Airlines entering the Australia-US market at some point. It wants an ultra-long-range hub-busting aircraft to give it more flexibility. Analysts expect it to order between 10 and 15 777-200LRs. Interestingly, Qantas was one of the seven airlines that helped Boeing design the 777 in the early 1990s and is the only one of those not to have ordered the jet.

Gregg told ATWOnline that the airline's engineering department is very interested in the 747-8 and is taking a hard look at that aircraft, which would replace its 747-400s.