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Qantas is the national flag carrier of Australia. Established in 1921, it is the second oldest airline in the world after KLM.

History of Qantas[]

The story began in March 1919 when a pair of Gallipoli Vetarans Officer W. Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinnes heard a $20,000 prize by the Federal Government to fly from England to Australia within 30 days. They went to participate on the challenge and finished it 51 days later. Fysh and McGinnes then travelled to Sydney where they ordered two Avro aircraft. In November 1920, they formed Queensland and Northern Territory aerial service which was later abbreviated to Qantas.

In 1921, the fleet consisted two biplanes- an Avro 504k and Royal Aircraft BE2E which was purchased from Charles Knight. In 1924, a four passenger DH50 was introduced marking the introduction of post-war commercial aircraft to Australia. The following year, the service extended further out and out in 1926. Two years later, Qantas signed a contract with the Australian Aerial Medical Service to operate medical flights. Qantas then bought two new DH61 on April 1929 to begin a new route. The name was later changed into Qantas Empire Airways because of the link between Britain's Imperial Airways.

From February 1935, Qantas' four engine DH86 operated its first international flight from Brisbane to Singapore. Following WW II, the Japanese was invading Singapore and destroyed some of their planes. They served flights to battle zones like Papua New Guinea. After the war, Qantas bought 4 Lockheed Constellation for international routes and Douglas DC-3 for domestic routes.

By 1956, Qantas had 34 propeller driven planes for the Melbourne olympics and was about to join the jet age with their first Boeing 707. All of their 707s had a V-jet logo boldly painted in white. In 1966, Sir Hudson Fysh retired as Chairman of Qantas and was replaced by Chief Executive and General Manager Sir Cedric Tuner. In late 60's Boeing 747 known as "Queen of the Skies" revolutionised international travel. Qantas received its first Boeing 747 in September 1961 and set a new record for carrying the most passengers on a 747 in 1974 before Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin.

By the end of the 70's, Qantas retired the 707 fleet and was replaced by Boeing 767 with more powerful engines. By 1987, Qantas ordered a Boeing 747-400 and named it "City of Canberra". By the 1990's, the fleet was expanding rapidly and formed a subsidiary called Australian airlines, which ceased operations in 2006. Qantas grew and evolved over the years and formed another subsidiary named Jetstar. In the last decade of the 20th century, one of their 747 was painted with aboriginal dreamtime. As the the 21st century comes in, the first Airbus A380 was delivered to Qantas for really long haul routes. In 2015, Qantas ordered 8 Boeing 787-9 and 30 on purchased rights but they won't be delivered until 2018 and 2019.

Fleet[]

Here is the current fleet below

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers (Total) Notes
Airbus A330-200 18 - 251/271
Airbus A330-300 10 - 297
Airbus A380 12 - 484
Boeing 737-800 75 - 174
Boeing 747-400 1 - 364 Retirement set for late 2019
Boeing 747-400ER 6 - 364 Retirement set for 2020
Boeing 787-9 8 6 236

Codeshare Agreements[]

As of June 2016, Qantas codeshares with the following airlines:

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