The following has been extracted from
By Ben Sandilands, December 12, 2011
· Qantas is augmenting its A380s with refurbished Boeing 747-400s, but not after 2021.
· What is tragic about the Qantas fleet simplification graphic is that it has totally abandoned at least so far as a Qantas branded operation is concerned, the commitment to serving the new city pairs that were supposed to be enabled by the 787 Dreamliner when it ordered or optioned up to 100 0f them in December 2005.
· What the slide says is that this Qantas management has dealt itself out of the ambitions that underpinned the 787 order. That notion, put into effective fleet use by Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Thai International and Lufthansa, is not for Qantas. In fact there may be no real belief in management of any role for Qantas international at all, as with down sizing comes vulnerability and irrelevance, already apparent in the market share taken by those who saw the gaps in the Qantas world view, and filled them.
· There are 50 Dreamliners left on firm contract, but earmarked for Jetstar international and Qantas domestic, and as they are widely expected to be operated out of an offshore 787 base by a new entity providing 787 services to Qantas, some of those less-than-A380 sized international routes may be flown by an Asia based Qantas investment, as well as the various owners of offshore Jetstar franchises.
Full article available at Plane Talking