Qantas is planning to invest around $1.84 billion this financial year in capital expenditure with a large portion assigned to new aircraft orders. The airline has orders and options with Airbus for up to 299 narrowbody aircraft and firm orders for 12 widebody A350s with the fleet destined for Project Sunrise.
The aircraft deliveries have started since last year with Jetstar inducting four Airbus A321LRs operating a mix of domestic and international routes. The airline is expecting deliveries of 12 new aircraft by the end of the year that include, seven Airbus A321LRs for Jetstar, two A220s for Qantas Domestic and three Boeing 787-9s for Qantas International.
"Overall, we're expecting a new arrival every three weeks on average for the next three years as we draw down on our Airbus order. That includes the A350 - the ultra-long-range aircraft that we'll use for Project sunrise flights, flying direct from Australia's east coast to New York and London,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
Besides, Qantas has ordered nine Airbus A220 aircraft, to renew its domestic fleet, finalizing purchase rights options from a previous order.
The airline now expects to receive a total of 29 Airbus A220-300 jets in the next six years. In terms of deliveries during the next three years, Qantas expects to receive five in FY24, which is between June 2023 and June 2024, nine in FY25, and 10 in FY26. The remaining aircraft should be delivered by FY29.
The airline also plans to acquire several mid-life A320-family aircraft for freight and resources customers to help offset the anticipated delays in aircraft deliveries. Once the delayed aircraft are delivered, the Group then has the option to retire or retain the aircraft they were originally designed to replace, depending on market conditions.
The airline plans to acquire five mid-life A319/320 aircraft to support the growth of the resources market in Western Australia, for delivery in FY24, three additional mid-life A321P2F aircraft to accelerate renewal of Qantas Freight fleet, for delivery in FY25 and FY26, two additional A320s for Jetstar Asia as demand across Asia rebounds, for delivery in mid calendar year 2023. This will bring its total fleet size back up to nine aircraft, options for up to 12 additional E190 aircraft to be wet leased from Alliance Airlines to provide increased capacity and network connectivity in the domestic market and exercising nine existing purchase right options for A220 aircraft, for delivery in FY26 and FY27 as part of ‘Project Winton’ deal with Airbus.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has welcomed the decision to acquire the nine additional A220 aircraft; taking to social media to congratulate the Australian carrier
Looking at the above order details, it is safe to say that Qantas is replacing the Boeing 737 and Boeing 717s with the Airbus A321XLR and Airbus A220s, respectively, as looks to renew its domestic fleet.
Speaking on the OEM delivery delays, Joyce said: “"Wet leasing more aircraft from Alliance Airlines will provide a very rapid injection of extra capacity domestically, but with plenty of flexibility to adjust that over time depending on what is happening in the market. Jetstar Asia shrank during the pandemic but with travel in Asia rebounding, now is the right time to put two aircraft back in."
Going ahead, Qantas has unveiled prototypes of the First and Business cabins on the aircraft that will fly passengers non-stop from Australia to New York and London from late 2025. A virtual reality fly through of the aircraft cabin has also been revealed.
"Today, we're unveiling prototypes of the first and business class suites on those aircraft, which are the most luxurious seats we've ever had on a Qantas aircraft. They really will be a new era of travel,” added Joyce
Qantas claims that the flagship cabins are the first to be developed from the ground up and designed with ultra-long-haul travel in mind. Qantas has configured its 12 A350s from 300-plus seat layout to just 238 seats to give passengers more space.
“Qantas has been the leader in opening up new long-haul flights for most of our history, and we’re bringing everything we’ve learned, both technically and in terms of passenger comfort, to Project Sunrise flying,” said Joyce “We think our A350 cabins have the most sophisticated and thoughtful design of any airline, combining cutting edge technology with sleep research to shape the look and feel for what is effectively a new era of travel. We’re building on the customer experience of our extremely popular non-stop flights from Perth to London as we keep working to make it easier to connect Australia with the rest of the world.”