A ULCC aircraft isn't a ULCC aircraft by virtue of its age (indeed most ULCCs favour regular fleet renewal because aircraft require more maintenance and have inferior dispatch reliability as a rule). These are effectively a ULCC aircraft by way of their seat count which is the maximum permissible for an A319 with only 6 emergency exits. Their redeeming feature might be the streaming entertainment but I suspect in this day and age that's neither here nor there for many people and especially a plane load of seasoned FIFO workers.
I do agree with you though Lauren that age isn't everything, that there are plenty of airlines with older A319s than these, and that for the average non-avgeek they have to be an improvement on the F100s.
I don't think Qantas' comment about 'midlife A320 family' is that outrageous, really - I haven't looked at the others but 8NP has spent almost 2.5 of its 18.8 years in storage and is joining QantasLink for low utilisation work, so has plenty of useful life left in her.
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