QANTAS Fleet and Operations

[James Smith]

The schedule for the New York flights is now up on the QANTAS booking site with departure from SYD at 10:05 on Wed, Fri and Sun with arrival in JFK at 17:15 via AKL - QF3. The return flight departs JFK at 19:30 same day with arrival in SYD at 8:05 on Tue, Fri and Sun - QF4. B789 operating with commencement on 14/6/23.

[James Smith]

Further reading of the full QANTAS end of year announcement has stated the following regarding its fleet:

All Qantas and Jetstar aircraft based in Australia and New Zealand have returned to flying, with the exception of some Airbus A380s. Five A380s with updated interiors have now returned to service with the remaining five to follow by December 2023, once mid-life maintenance is completed. Qantas International is due to receive its three remaining Boeing 787-900s by the end of FY23.

Source: QANTAS News Room: https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/me...very-underway/

A couple of A332s are also still to return to service.

[Rowan McKeever]

I think the thing with the A332s is that two of them are not returning to passenger operations, so the two that currently remain parked will effectively replace the two that are going for freighter conversion. So they're technically correct, other than the mild cringe where an airline calls them "787-900"...

[Dennis McLean]

BNE must be the 3rd class citizen with no 789's till whenever????

[Rowan McKeever]

Originally Posted by Dennis McLean

BNE must be the 3rd class citizen with no 789's till whenever????

Depends on your perspective - I've seen in another chat where someone put a case that the A330 is a much comfortable aircraft for the BNE-LAX, but others clearly don't agree. I know which I'd prefer but to each their own, I guess

[Ben W]

Interesting in the release that they say the other 5 A380's will be back by Dec 23. I thought they may come back a little sooner than that with the current demand? Or don't they have enough pilots and crew to operate them?

I do see the A380's will be back in MEL operating 93/94 a few times a week from early December this year based on their ticketing system. Guessing OQC and OQG will be next back into service.

[Ben W]

Originally Posted by Rowan McKeever

Depends on your perspective - I've seen in another chat where someone put a case that the A330 is a much comfortable aircraft for the BNE-LAX, but others clearly don't agree. I know which I'd prefer but to each their own, I guess

To be brutally honest. I'd take the 330 over the 787. Not a huge fan of 787's but each to their own!

[David C]

Originally Posted by Ben W

To be brutally honest. I'd take the 330 over the 787. Not a huge fan of 787's but each to their own!

I take the A330 every time when given the choice of 787 or A330. The 2-4-2 seating is far superior for the travelling couple . Not a fan of the 787 , but that’s just my opinion .

Dave C

[James Smith]

QANTAS is going to start plans to replace its 28 aircraft A330 fleet. Link to the story:

https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...et-2022-08-25/

Source: Reuters Aerospace and Defence

The following sentence from the news item gives some clarity on when the last three QANTAS B789s are expected to be delivered:

Qantas has three 787s already manufactured by Boeing that are in storage in the United States because of the planemaker's delivery issues and are expected to arrive in May and June 2023, the airline's chief executive Alan Joyce said.

[James Smith]

Interesting in the release that they say the other 5 A380's will be back by Dec 23. I thought they may come back a little sooner than that with the current demand? Or don't they have enough pilots and crew to operate them? I do see the A380's will be back in MEL operating 93/94 a few times a week from early December this year based on their ticketing system. Guessing OQC and OQG will be next back into service.

Ben, QANTAS need a sixth A380 from 2 December, 2022 to operate QF93/94 MEL-LAX-MEL three times a week and the seventh A380 from 25 March, 2023 when QF93/94 is due to operate six days a week. The fifth aircraft will be finally deployed on SYD-LAX from 1/9/22 to operate a six times weekly service.

It is assumed that OQG will be the sixth A380 brought back to service as it is currently in maintenance in AUH. Not sure about number seven as OQC has not been refurbished during its extended stay in AUH, as far as we know, and OQI is the only refurbished A380 yet to return to service, but remains in VCV.

As to where the last three A380s will operate is yet to be announced. SYD to DFW was previously operated by A380s and would require two aircraft for a six weekly or daily service. If this happens during and by the end of 2023 the tenth A380 could be used as a spare to operate at peak times to SIN or HKG, for example during summer, or to replace an aircraft in maintenance or with an unforeseen unserviceability.

We'll see how this all pans out.