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New Birds for Q

 
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Old 27th Oct 2001, 09:40
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At last an end to all the speculation....

THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER - 27 October 2001

The Pride of Russia to be an Aussie Work Horse



The first of Australian airline Qantas's new fleet of regional jets, the Tupolev Tu-134, arrived in Sydney yesterday to begin operations as the international carriers regional workhorse.

The Tupolev Tu-134 was the first of 35 such aircraft given to the airline as part of a larger order of Tu-154's which Qantas hopes will help it compete with low cost competitor Virgin Blue.

The surprise deal, which has been described as a "major coup for a Russian company", was based on an order for an as yet unspecified number of the larger Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, which the company will use to upgrade it's current fleet of mid size aircraft.

There has been much speculation in recent weeks as to who the successful supplier would be, and it was thought that the only two contenders for the deal were Boeing and Airbus. An industry insider was quoted as saying "What the !?".

The Tupolev deal included the supply of 35 smaller Tu-134 aircraft for no additional cost. The company described these as "pre-loved".

An unofficial Qantas source was quoted in Pravda Newspaper on Wednesday that the company was going to use the Tu-134 to bolster the airlines regional services.

"This is Australian airline history in the making" said the source. "When was the last time anyone saw a regional jet landing at Muckinbindi. Never that's when. These poor blighters have had to contend with clapped out old piston aircraft to get anywhere. We can now offer a regional jet service to the black stump and beyond".

An Ilyushin Il-76 Super Freighter is expected to arrive in Sydney this afternoon with spare parts, supplied free of charge by the Russian Government as a sign of gratitude to Qantas for quadrupling the country's GDP instantly. A spokesman said on the phone from the Kremlin "We are all celebrating and can't believe our good fortune. It's good to see that there are still some very stupid....ahh, I mean astute purchasers out there for superior Russian technology".

Qantas are reportedly creating a new flight deck position of Flight Interpreter or FIP, to assist the flight crews in reading the instruments of the Tu-134.
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Old 27th Oct 2001, 09:47
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Rumour has it that it will be run between Melbourne and Launceston and Adelaide...since the government is hell bent on turning back the clock on competition on these routes!!
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