Qantas is preparing to reshape its domestic fleet, with the current Boeing 737-800 workhorse jets being replaced by either new fleet of Airbus A320neo-family or Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
See also: Boeing sees potential safety risk in the new Airbus A321XLR.
At stake in the familiar Airbus vs Boeing contest is a multi-billion-dollar contract as the airline looks beyond the expected 2023-2024 timeframe for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and through to the 2040s.
It’s a project the airline had expected to embark upon last year, after putting Project Sunrise to bed – but both were sidelined by the sudden impact and immediate priority of COVID-19.
See also: Saudia Airlines plans to order 70 Airbus, Boeing jets.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce admits that “we have to replace the domestic fleet over the next decade.”
“Now is the time to order aircraft because the prices are so good,” Joyce told The Australian Financial Review’s Business Summit earlier this month.
Joyce said the domestic fleet was one of “two big projects we will have in the pipeline,” the other being the review of plans for Project Sunrise nonstop flights, which have the potential to take off in mid-2024 with a strong appeal to passengers who prefer to fly direct and avoid stopovers.
“We will be undertaking a refurbishment of our domestic narrowbody fleet and plan to launch sometime this year,” Qantas Group CFO Vanessa Hudson confirmed recently.
Currently, Qantas’ oldest Boeing 737 arrived in 2002, making it 19 years old, and approaching the “20-year” milestone at which the airline typically retires aircraft.
Photo: Jordan Vuong/Wikimedia
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