Qantas Australia - Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services

Qantas Australia was originally QANTAS, which stood for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services. This airline was originally founded in 1920. The first airplane flown by the airline was an Avro 504K. The airplane was a mail service that was paid for by the Australian government and had a speed of 65 miles per hour.

When the original flight was taken there was one passenger. The maximum was two passengers and a pilot. Today Qantas’ hubs in international flights include Sydney and Melbourne. They also include several that fly in and out of Singapore, Los Angeles, Brisbane and London. The flights in Australia include Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

In addition, Qantas is the owner of Jetstar Airways, QantasLink, Jetconnect and Qantas Freight. The owner of 49% of Air Pacific as well as 50% of Star Track Express, which is a trucking company and Australian Air Express.

Since becoming a private airline in 1993, Qantas Australia has realized more profits than many other airlines. The 2008 World Airline Awards voted Qantas as 3rd best in the nation. The previous year they wee 5th and although in 2005 they were 2nd the improvement is a step in the right direction.

These were not the only award received. The airline wa voted Best First class Lounge, Best Regional Airline Australasia, Best Airline Australasia and Best Economy Class Onboard cateing.

Their acquisition of Jetstar has le to the expansion of this airline and the addition of international services to Bali, Honolulu, Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City. By charging lower rates, the airline can operate routes that were not previously profitable as ones that are quite profitable now.

As of December 2008, the talks between Qantas and British Airways were ongoing concerning a merger between these two companies. Then on December 18th the negotiations were discontinued. On the 29th of December of 2008, Qantas flew the last schedule flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles by way of Auckland. In January 2009 the United States took over storage of four 747 - 300s. This ended over 524,000 hours of flying and 24 years of service. This was the last time a Qantas plane - 747-300 - flew with a pilot.

The 747 - 400 will begin to be replaced by 2013 by the Airbus A380. The Boeing 777-300ER or the Airbus A350 will be replacing the 747-400s. In addition, the Boeing 787 may be taking over some of Quatntas Australia flights.

In the midst of the financial crisis experienced by the world, Qantas was willing to remove some of the first class seats form the International flights to raise profits. The shares had been rising however, the profit was down by 88% for 2009 up to June of that year. They reported 117 million in profits. It was still one of the very few airlines with international flights to realize a profit for that year.

The headquarters of Qantas Australia is in New South Wales and Sydney. The Sydney terminal has a collection dedicated to Qantas. Visiting the collection is possible every week day except for holidays.

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