QANTAS: Upgrading of QantasLink fleet

QantasLink serves regional routes across Australia and flies a combination of jets and turboprops. It’s simplifying its fleet somewhat by retiring some older Dash 8s and streamlining them all to the same 400 turboprop model known as the Q400.

QantasLink DeHavilland Dash 8-400 (Q400s)

The new acquisition of 14 second-hand ‘mid-life’ DeHavilland Dash 8-400 turboprop (Q400s) commencing delivery later in 2024 will bring the fleet to 45 aircraft. It will also allow the retirement of 19 of the smaller Q200 and Q300 turboprop aircraft. The Q400s are up to 30% faster than the smaller models, with increased comfort and reliability.

“By consolidating our turboprops into a single fleet type, we’ll be able to further improve our reliability and provide a better recovery for our customers during disruptions as well as reducing complexity and cost for our operation.”

Vanessa Hudson, CEO Qantas Group

The Turboprops service 50 destinations conveying approx. 3.5 million travellers to their destinations in regional Australia each year.

Airbus A220s already coming

So far, Qantas has received only two of these aircraft out of the 29 it has on order. A third is already on its way. The new planes will replace the old Boeing 717s on smaller market inter-city routes like Melbourne to Launceston and Melbourne to Hobart. They have brand new interiors and are a pleasure to be a passenger by all reports.

2PAXfly Takeout

Qantas is rapidly changing the profile of its fleet over the next decade. We look forward to the arrival of the speciality-equipped Airbus A350-100 ULR for Project Sunrise routes. For shorter international and regional routes, the narrow-body A220s could be a boon to the airline. The domestic narrow-body fleet renewal with A321 XLRs will not be before time. Qantas has also ordered additional Dreamliner Boeing 787s in 9 and 10 variants. It also has a bunch of A350-1000s in their Long Range format arriving. The promise in 2023 was a new aircraft arriving every 3 weeks for the next few years.

These new aircraft are long overdue. Much of the Qantas fleet is beginning to look a little tired.