QANTAS Fleet and Operations

[Alex Ch]

QF to lease 4 additional 737-800’s.

12J150Y interiors and approximately 10 years old.

Possibly a pre-emptive move by QF to prevent VA getting the additional capacity to protect market share? Will also ease pressure with retirements due for the early VXs and delays to the XLRs

[MarkR]

Originally Posted by Alex Ch

Possibly a pre-emptive move by QF to prevent VA getting the additional capacity to protect market share? Will also ease pressure with retirements due for the early VXs and delays to the XLRs

No chance, if VA wanted the capacity they would have kept a few of the birds heading to the bone yard rather than risk more non standard aircraft entering the fleet.

[Rowan McKeever]

Originally Posted by MarkR

No chance, if VA wanted the capacity they would have kept a few of the birds heading to the bone yard rather than risk more non standard aircraft entering the fleet.

VA already has several ex-SQ/MI B738s in their fleet so it would be no disadvantage and, in fact, may be an advantage in some ways to add more.

[Tom PER]

Whilst it makes sense that these incoming aircraft are ex SQ and the timelines align, has it been officially confirmed?

Batik group also operates 738’s in a C12Y150 configuration as does Garuda.

[Greg Hyde]

Here are some of the original news reports (best bits)

Singapore Airlines’ Retiring Boeing 737s

Singapore Airlines has officially scheduled the retirement of its final four Boeing 737-800s by 31 March 2026, marking the end of an era for its short-haul narrow-body operations.

These aircraft — registered 9V-MGK, 9V-MGL, 9V-MGM, and 9V-MGN — were initially delivered to SilkAir in 2015 and transitioned into the SIA fleet in 2021.

https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/20...r-boeing-737s/

Singapore Airlines To Retire Boeing 737

Fleet data indicates that the Singapore-based carrier only has four more 737-800s, which are an average of 9.8 years old.

These four aircraft were also all acquired on leases from Deucalion Aviation; however, their leases are coming to an end, and they were not necessarily aircraft directly taken on by Singapore Airlines.

https://djsaviation.net/singapore-ai...re-boeing-737/

https://www.flightglobal.com/airline...163002.article

Aus Aviation

Qantas is set to lease four 737-800s by the end of the year to combat delays in the arrival of its new fleet of A321XLRs.

In a note to staff, the airline’s domestic chief executive, Markus Svensson, said the mid-life aircraft would provide “bridging capacity” and receive new interiors to make them appear as new to customers.

It comes as Qantas expects its first A321XLR to arrive on Wednesday from Hamburg. However, its arrival is three months later than expected, with another three of the same type still due to land by the end of the year.

The global aviation industry is facing a severe shortage of new aircraft, primarily due to post-COVID supply chain issues and difficulties in hiring new recruits.

To combat the problems, the airline previously announced it would overhaul the cabins of more than 40 of its existing 737s, including the addition of new business and economy seats, larger overhead lockers, new carpets, sidewalls, and mood lighting.

In comments reported by The Australian, Svensson said the investments in the 737 fleet alongside the arrival of modern aircraft “signalled the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Qantas” and would “significantly elevate the experience we offer our customers”.

Additionally, Qantas also recently revealed it would shut its Jetstar Asia subsidiary and shift its entire fleet of 13 A320s to Australia and New Zealand.

Qantas is currently undergoing a significant fleet renewal program that will transform its domestic and international aircraft fleet.

Internationally, Qantas will receive 12 new 787 Dreamliners and 12 Airbus A350s to replace the bulk of its ageing A330 fleet, alongside the separate order for 12 specially adapted A350-1000 jets to launch Project Sunrise.

Domestically, the airline will purchase 28 Airbus A321XLRs and 29 A220-300s to fly its domestic routes, but with the option to buy many more.

Subsidiary brand Jetstar has already begun welcoming its new fleet of 38 A320neos, comprised of 18 long-range A321LRs and 20 A321XLR aircraft – an even longer-range variant.

Svensson added that the arrival of the first A321 XLR in Sydney this week, via just one stop in Bangkok, would give a “glimpse of what these incredible aircraft are capable of”.

“It wasn’t that long ago that one-stop flights between Australia and Europe were the domain of giant four-engine aircraft like the Boeing 747, which demonstrates just what a technological leap forward these aircraft are,” he said.

The news that Qantas will lease midlife aircraft significantly comes after new chairman John Mullen warned in March that the airline’s ageing fleet “should have been replaced earlier” and led to a reputation for “crap” service.

He added that the ageing fleet meant its customers were not getting the optimum experience, whether from cabin experience or mechanical issues.

“Unless you’ve got a lot of spare capacity, that cascades down through a whole lot of flights,” he said. “We need to have another year or 18 months of the new aircraft coming on to start to deserve the respect that hopefully we will generate.”

https://australianaviation.com.au/20...livery-delays/ (Maybe unavailable - firewalled)

https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/20...321xlr-delays/



Enjoy

[Greg Hyde]

QF is also leasing 2 x A330 from Finnair becoming VH-QPK (1067) and QPL (1173).

Repainted in QF livery but no changes internally

[Lauren J]

Originally Posted by Greg Hyde

QF is also leasing 2 x A330 from Finnair becoming VH-QPK (1067) and QPL (1173).

These are OH-LTR and OH-LTU, interesting choice considering OH-LTR and OH-LTS are the two currently leased by Qantas. I guess OH-LTS will either continue as a wet-leased aircraft, or head back to Finland.

Out of interest, where were you able to find this information? I can’t find a source for it.

[Brenden S]

How many of the Finair A330's have operated on behalf of QF so far?

[Greg Hyde]

Originally Posted by Brenden S

How many of the Finair A330's have operated on behalf of QF so far?

OH-LTR & OH-LTS on the BKK-SYD-BKK run.

[Wenglock M]

Interestingly, future schedules seem to indicate there will still be 2x Finnair wet-leased A330s operating on the SYD-BKK-SYD and (one of the) SYD-SIN-SYD runs.

This will be in addition to the 2x dry-leased aircraft (1067 and 1173).