Qantas is not only the flag carrier of Australia, but an important connection for the country with the rest of the world. The skipping kangaroo airline is one of the oldest carriers still in business. The geographic morphology of Australia translates into the need of having quite a varied fleet. In today’s post we’ll be taking a deep dive into the Qantas fleet in early 2023.
The Qantas Fleet in Late 2023
The Qantas fleet features a mix narrow and wide body aircraft. The airline has quite unique needs due to the size of the country, its location and how the population is mainly concentrated in the largest cities. Therefore the use of these different planes is not that clearly split. It isn’t uncommon to see wide body jets on domestic services and narrow bodies on some international flight. However where possibile the airline uses it’s specifically configured planes for domestic flights.
That being said the best way to split and analyse the Qantas fleet is to look at separately the:
- Narrow Bodies
- Wide Bodies
Qantas’ fleet operates both Boeing and Airbus aircraft, albeit with most American produced planes being narrow bodies. Now that we have covered all the basics, let’s look deeper into the fleet composition.
The Narrow Body Qantas Fleet
- 74 Boeing 737-800
This is the least complex part of the Qantas fleet. The airline operates only 1 type of narrow body jet the Boeing 737-800. These planes are used for domestic and short range flights.
All these 74 planes are configured with a 2 class layout offering:
- 12 Business Class Seats
- 162 Economy Class Seats
However Qantas will soon be receiving a new addition to its narrow body fleet. The Australian airline will be receiving in the near future its first Airbus A220s which it will operate mostly on domestic routes.
At the moment Qantas has 29 A220-300 on order with Airbus.
The Qantas Fleet of Wide Body Planes
- 8 Airbus A380
- 15 Airbus A330-200
- 10 Airbus A330-300
- 14 Boeing 787-9
These wide body aircraft are used for both domestic and international services, depending on flight duration and passenger demand. I have personally have flown on Qantas wide body planes on the just over 1 hour flight from Sydney to Melbourne.
The airline still has 8 active Airbus A380 at the moment. It just recently re-introduced one of its A380 to help cope with growing air travel demand, particularly on US routes. However in the more distant future these quad-jets will be replaced by more fuel efficient twin engine jets.
These A380s are the only planes in the Qantas fleet to offer passengers the possibility of travelling in First Class. No other aircraft in the fleet is fitted with this product.
At the moment the Boeing 787-9 present in the Qantas fleet are often used for the ultra long range flights the airline operates between Perth and Europe.
The Qantas Cabin Configurations
The A380 Configuration
As mentioned before the A380 is the only plane with a first class cabin fitted. QF has 2 configurations for the A380, specifically:
Config 1
- 14 First Class Seats
- 64 Business Class Seats
- 35 Premium Economy Seats
- 371 Economy Class Seats
Config 2
- 14 First Class Seats
- 70 Business Class Seats
- 60 Premium Economy Seats
- 341 Economy Class Seats
The A330 Configuration
More than one configuration is available for the Qantas A330s as these planes are used for both domestic and international or long range flights.
A330-200 (Domestic/International)
- 28/27 Business Class Seats
- 243/224 Economy Class Seats
A330-200 (International)
- 36 Business Class Seats
- 199 Economy Class Seats
A330-300
- 28 Business Class Seats
- 269 Economy Class Seats
The 787-9 Configuration
As the Australian airline flies this particular jet on ULR sectors it has a premium heavy configuration to further help optimise range.
- 42 Business Class Seats
- 28 Premium Economy Seats
- 166 Economy Class Seats
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