How Qantas plans to scrub their old fleet with the new.

Australia’s flagship carrier, Qantas, plans to renew their fleet.

With multiple next-gen aircrafts on order, what do they plan to do?

Qantas has a diverse range of aircrafts, from the Airbus A220–300, to the Airbus A380–800.

With much of the aircrafts such as the Boeing 737–800, Airbus A330-200/300, and Airbus A380.

These aircrafts have been with Qantas for quite a while, and are in the middle of costing Qantas a lot of money for repairs, maintenance, and much more.

Hence, Qantas plans to scrub them all, and make a fresh start with a fresh fleet.

Boeing 737–800 (B738)

The 737 is their primary aircraft for domestic, and short international travelling.

Destinations across Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and others.

The 737’s cover majority of Australia, with primary hubs in Sydney and Melbourne.

From Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Gold Coast, and Adelaide, Qantas runs a short-haul international travel to close destinations, especially New Zealand, and Fiji.

With the 737–800 max range being around 6000km (6–6.5 hours), this is the best aircraft in their fleet to do the job.

However, now that the 737’s have seen better days, Qantas has made the decision to firmly order 48 Airbus A321XLR aircrafts.

With Extra Long Range, the A321XLR can fly for up to 8–9 hours, firmly establishing the Bribane to Manila route, along with the capability of going from SYD/MEL to Singapore (6–8 hours).

In 1992, Qantas first bought the 737, now, after 34 years, they have announced its retirement.

Airbus A330–200 (A332) & Airbus A330–300 (A333)

Qantas’ Airbus A330 fleet provides stability for routes requiring more seats domestically or internationally.

Covering its most consistent route from Melbourne to Perth with the A330–200, as there is a high demand.

The A330–300 is more internationally based, with routes to India, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Hawaii.

Qantas plans to replace the A330 fleet with the Boeing 787–10 series.

With the 787–10 (787X) being a much larger and economically sustainable aircraft, Qantas has chosen it as the primary aircraft for high-demand domestic routes, along with a full replacement of international routes to Asia, and Hawaii.

The A330–200 operates on routes to PER, CGK, SIN, BKK, SYD, MEL, DPS, CTS, LAX, and HNL.

The A330–300 operates on routes to CGK, HND, NRT, HKG, BKK, SIN, BLR, HNL, and DPS.

In 2002, the first A330–200 (VH-EBA) was delivered to the Qantas route.

Airbus A380–800 (A388)

As big as it gets, the A380 is Qantas’ largest aircraft in the fleet, serving over 480+ seats, and acting as the primary airliner in Qantas’ fleet for high-demand, long-haul routes.

The A380 is primarily served out of Sydney International Airport.

Serving only internationally, Qantas has an exciting surprise as to what aircraft gets to carry on the beast’s legacy.

The Airbus A350–1000ULR, as good as it gets.

Referred to as the A35K, it will be crowned Qantas’ biggest aircraft.

Although being only a single deck, it has a lot of mind-blowing features.

Including and spair fuel tank, high efficiency engines, and a fully replenished interior.

With the first delivery to take place in mid 2027, this aicraft will serve DIRECT flights from MEL/SYD to New York and London.

With other routes such as Chicago, Miami, Rio de Janerio, and Frankfurt to come, Qantas will first prioritise providing direct services to LHR and JFK/EWR.

Along with 12 ULR’s, are 12 standard A35K’s.

The standard ones will serve the existing routes such as LHR-connecting via SIN, LAX, DFW, and JNB.

With Melbourne’s demand for LAX, Qantas eye’s providing the standard A35K as a daily service in the future, whereas now, the route is taken by the Boeing 787–9 and twice weekly by the A380.

(VH-OQA) was Qantas’ first ever accident with the A388, with an uncontained engine failure, the plane was forced to divert and asap, contain the fire before spreading towards the fuselage.

As of now, VH-OQA is in service and is flying with no surprises.

In 2008, Qantas was delivered VH-OQA (Nancy-Bird Walton).

In a few years time, Qantas’ new fleet will look like this.

• Airbus A220–300
• Airbus A321XLR
• Airbus A350–1000
• Airbus A350–1000ULR
• Boeing 787–9
• Boeing 787–10

This is an overall solid fleet, with each aircraft ticking many boxes.

QUEENSLAND AND NORTHERN TERRITORY AERIAL SERVICES

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