Airbus preferred by Qantas for its domestic fleet. In a press release published in December 2021, the airline says it has selected the A320 New and the A320 family as its preferred aircraft for its domestic narrow-bodied fleet. Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, said the airline named this domestic fleet renovation project Winton, as a tribute to Winton, the town where our Flying Kangaroo was born 101 years ago.
Alan Joyce also said this is a long time project. The full renewal is to be spread out over the next decade.
Order expected to be placed by the end of this Financial Year
According to the airline’s press release, the company is expected to place its first orders for 20 aircraft A321XLR (extra long-range) and 20 A320 aircraft with Airbus. The decision will have to be approved by the board and discussions on the operations of the new aircraft models need to be had with the company’s employees, before that approval.
It is also planned a further 94 aircraft order, to be delivered in the next 10 years and beyond, to replace the current Boeing 737-800s and 717s which will gradually retire. This is a right options deal with Airbus, which means that Qantas obtained a firm price on these aircraft and will have preferred access to delivery slots, with more flexibility for deliveries on demand.
The order will also include the agreement with Jetstar for more than 100 A230 New family aircraft. The press release says that the total order will be for 299 aircraft to be delivered over the next 10 years for Qantas, Jetstar and QantasLink, this will be the largest aircraft order in Australian aviation history and it will definitely be a milestone for the Qantas Group.
A company restructuring
The new aircraft will give the airline a great fleet mix that will help achieve better network choices and route economics. The company is also restructuring its engineering, flight operations, customer experience, network, fleet procurement and finance teams. A great future awaits our Flying Kangaroo.