Qantas Airways Limited (pronounced /ˈkwɒntəs/ ) (ASX: QAN) is the national airline of Australia. The name was originally " QANTAS ", an acronym for " Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services ". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport. It is Australia's largest airline and is the world's second oldest airline. Qantas is headquartered in the Qantas Centre in the Mascot suburb of the City of Botany Bay, Sydney, New South Wales.
In 2009, Qantas was voted the sixth best airline in the world by research consultancy firm Skytrax, a slight drop from 2008 (third), 2007 (fifth), 2006 (second), and 2005 (second).
History
Beginnings
Qantas was founded in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited by Paul McGuiness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. The airline's first aircraft was an Avro 504K purchased for £1425. The aircraft had a cruising speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 mph) and carried one pilot and two passengers. Eighty-four year old outback pioneer Alexander Kennedy was the first passenger, receiving ticket number one. The airline operated air mail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in western Queensland.
Between 1926 and 1928, Qantas built seven de Havilland DH.50s and a single DH.9 under licence in its Longreach hangar. In 1928 a chartered Qantas aircraft made the inaugural flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, departing from Cloncurry.
Flying boats and war: 1934 to 1945
In 1934, QANTAS Limited and Britain's Imperial Airways (a forerunner of British Airways) formed a new company, Qantas Empire Airways Limited. Each partner held 49%, with two per cent in the hands of an independent arbitrator. The new airline commenced operations in December 1934 flying between Brisbane and Darwin using old fashioned DH.50 and DH.61 biplanes.
QEA flew internationally from May 1935, when the service from Darwin was extended to Singapore using newer de Havilland DH.86 Commonwealth Airliners. Imperial Airways operated the rest of the service through to London. In July 1938, this operation was replaced by a thrice weekly flying boat service using Shorts S.23 Empire Flying Boats. The Sydney to Southampton service took nine days, with passengers staying in hotels overnight. For the single year of peace that the service operated, it was profitable and 94% of services were on time. This service lasted through until Singapore fell in February 1942. Enemy action and accidents destroyed half of the fleet of ten, when most of the fleet was taken over by the Australian government for war service.
Flying boat services were resumed with American built PBY Catalinas on 10 July 1943, with flights between Swan River, Perth and Koggala lake in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). This linked up with the BOAC service to London, maintaining the vital communications link with England. The 5,652 km non-stop sector was the longest flown up to that time by any airline, with an average flying time of 28 hours. Passengers received a certificate of membership to The Rare and Secret Order of the Double Sunrise as the sun rose twice during the flight.
In 1944 the Catalinas were augmented by conventional B-24 Liberators, flying from Ratmalana via RAF Minneriya for refueling and then across the ocean to Learmonth. Later, Avro Lancastrians were flown on the route. They flew from Sydney to Gawler, Adelaide for refuelling than to Learmonth for the overnight stage to Ratmalana, where the plane refuelled for the flight to Karachi, where BOAC crews took over for the trip to UK. The lengthening of the runway at Ratmalana enabled the diversion to Minneria to be eliminated, and soon Ratmalana was replaced by RAF Negombo. The service was renamed the Kangaroo Service and the passenger award became The Order of the Longest Hop . It was on this route that the Kangaroo logo was first used. After the war, the return trip could also go Colombo – Cocos Islands – Perth – Sydney. These flights continued until 5 April 1946.
The post-war years: 1945 to 1959
After World War II, QEA was nationalised, with the Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley buying the shares of both Qantas Limited and BOAC. Nationalised airlines were normal at the time, and the Qantas board encouraged this move.
Shortly after nationalisation, QEA began their first services outside the British Empire — to Tokyo via Darwin and Manila with Avro Lancastrian aircraft. These aircraft were also deployed between Sydney and London in cooperation with BOAC, but were soon replaced by Douglas DC-4s. Services to Hong Kong began around the same time.
In 1947, the airline took delivery of Lockheed L.049 Constellations. In 1952, Qantas expanded across the Indian Ocean to Johannesburg via Perth, Cocos Islands and Mauritius, calling this the Wallaby Route. Around this time, the British Government placed great pressure on Qantas to purchase the De Havilland Comet jet airliner, but Hudson Fysh was dubious about the economics of the aircraft and successfully resisted this. The network was expanded across the Pacific to Vancouver via Auckland, Nadi, Honolulu and San Francisco in early 1954 when it took over the operations of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA). This became known as the Southern Cross Route.
In 1956, Qantas ordered the Boeing 707 jet airliner. The special shortened version for Qantas was the original version Boeing offered to airlines. Boeing lengthened the aircraft by ten feet for all other customers, which destroyed the economics for Qantas Pacific routes. The airline successfully negotiated with Boeing to have the aircraft they had originally contracted for.
In 1958, Qantas became one of the very few round-the-world airlines, operating services from Australia to London via Asia and the Middle East (Kangaroo route) and via the Southern Cross route with Super Constellations. It took delivery of new turboprop Lockheed Electra aircraft in 1959.
The jet age: 1959 to 1992
The first jet aircraft on the Australian register (and the 29th 707 built) was registered VH-EBA and named City of Canberra . This aircraft returned to Australia as VH-XBA in December 2006 for display in the Qantas Founders Outback Museum at Longreach, Queensland. The Boeing 707–138 was a shorter version of the Boeing 707 that was operated only by Qantas. The first jet service operated by Qantas was on 29 July 1959 from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu. On 5 September 1959, Qantas became the third airline to fly jets across the Atlantic — after BOAC and Pan Am, operating between London and New York as part of the service from Sydney. All of the turbojet aircraft were converted to upgraded turbofan engines in 1961 and were rebranded as V jets from the Latin vannus meaning fan.
Air travel grew substantially in the early 1960s, so Qantas ordered the larger Boeing 707-338C series of aircraft. In 1966, the airline diversified its business by opening the 450 room Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. The same year, Qantas placed early options on the new Concorde airliner but the orders were eventually cancelled. Also in 1966, another around-the-world route was opened. This was named the Fiesta route and was from Sydney to London via Tahiti, Mexico City, and Bermuda.
In 1967, the airline placed orders for the Boeing 747. This aircraft could seat up to 350 passengers, a major improvement over the Boeing 707. Orders were placed for four aircraft with deliveries commencing in 1971. The later delivery date allowed Qantas to take advantage of the −200B version, which better suited its requirements. Also in 1967, Qantas Empire Airways changed its name to Qantas Airways, the name of the airline today.
When Cyclone Tracy devastated the town of Darwin at Christmas 1974, Qantas established a world record for the most people ever embarked on a single aircraft when they evacuated 673 people on a single Boeing 747 flight. They also established a record embarking 327 people on Boeing 707 VH-EAH. Later in the decade, Qantas placed options on two McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft for flights to Wellington, New Zealand. These were not taken up, and two Boeing 747SPs were ordered instead. In March 1979, Qantas operated its final Boeing 707 flight from Auckland to Sydney, and became the only airline in th
AIR AUSTRALIA
Discover and experience the thrill and excitement of aerobatic flight! Loop the loop, controlled spins, barrel rolls etc... Think of our aircraft as your own personal 3 dimensional ...
Flights to Australia - Air New Zealand Official Site - NZ
Book cheap flights to Australia with Air New Zealand
Air Austral – Flights from Australia to Reunion Island, Paris and ...
Book your next Air Austral flight with Webjet, your online specialist for discount flights to France and the world.
Air Charter Specialists - Aircraft Charter Flights Australia-Wide 24/7 ...
Air Charter Specialists - Private Jet Charter Flights, Turboprop Aircraft Charter Flights, Helicopter Charter Flights - Altitude Aviation Aircraft Charters- Call us now 1800 747 ...
AIR AUSTRALIA
Who wouldn't like to get their loved ones home comfortably and quickly? The Royal flying Doctors Service-RFDS brings emergencies into perth for treatment but can only rarely help ...
Cairns Air Fares - Cheap Flights to Cairns , Australia - Airfares ...
Compare cheap flights to Cairns , Australia from Australia and more with Airfares Flights - the guide to Cairns flights and airfares.
Cheap Flights - Qantas, VirginBlue, Jetstar Cheap Flights
International & Domestic Airlines: Qantas Virgin Blue Jetstar Singapore Airlines Emirates Malaysia Airlines Thai Air International cheap flights to: Australia New ...
Australia Flights - Singapore Airlines
Australia Flights: Get airfare information and book your flights on Singapore Airlines for a comfortable flying experience.
Cheap Flights, Cheap Airfares from Australia - Airfares Flights
Cheap flights from Australia. Compare & book cheap airfares, domestic tickets & international air travel - Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar air fares.
Cheap flights to Australia ( OZ ) : Australia flights from £ 189
Go on for Australia Flights Search simply enter your details into the search box and click search ... Etihad Airways | Thai Airways | KLM | Eva Air | United Airlines | ...