Qantas Announces Upgrade

The Qantas Group has announced that it will upgrade its entire fleet of Airbus A330s and order new Boeing 737-800s to drive its strategy in the international and domestic markets. Beginning in late 2014, the group will reconfigure the interior of 10 Airbus A330-300s and 20 A330-200s with a new flat seat in Business Class, refreshed Economy cabin and a new inflight entertainment offering. The A330-300s will be operated by Qantas International on its network between Australia and Asia, while the A330-200s will be operated by Qantas Domestic on routes between the east coast and Perth – enabling the final retirement of the group’s Boeing 767s. Qantas will also purchase five additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Qantas Domestic (for delivery during 2014) and extend the leases on two existing B737-800s this year. The A330 reconfiguration program and the additional B737-800 orders do not affect the group’s planned capital expenditure of $1.6 billion in 2012/13 and $1.5 billion in 2013/14.