Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday announced a deal to buy 40 Airbus aircraft, to renew its domestic fleet. The purchase, which is expected to be finalised at the end of the next financial year, is for 20 long-range A321XLRs and 20 A220s.
“Financial details of the deal are commercial in confidence but represent a material discount from list prices,” Qantas said in unveiling “the largest aircraft order in Australian aviation history”.
The order is a blow to US planemaker Boeing, which currently supplies much of Qantas’ domestic fleet with its 737-800 and B717 models.
The deal also comes as France and Australia move on from a recent diplomatic spat engendered by the collapse of a multibillion-dollar submarine deal. Paris was furious after Australia ditched the deal in September, saying it had been given no warning that Canberra was negotiating a new defence pact with the US and Britain, which left France rethinking its alliances in the Indo-Pacific.
Qantas has been battered by the COVID-19 crisis, which has seen Australia’s borders closed for much of the last two years. The company on Thursday also announced it was about US$4 billion (€3.55bn) in debt, but expected domestic capacity to return to pre-COVID levels by March 2022.
The company on Thursday also announced it was about US$4 billion (€3.55bn) in debt, but expected domestic capacity to return to pre-COVID levels by March 2022
The deal includes an agreement in principle for a further 90 orders over the next 10 years.
“We are honoured to have been selected by Qantas for its comprehensive single aisle fleet replacement programme,” said Airbus commercial director Christian Scherer.
Qantas said the order, which is in addition to Jetstar’s existing agreement with Airbus for over 100 aircraft in the A320neo family, would give the group “significant flexibility on timing and aircraft type/size”.
The carrier added the larger, single-aisle A321XLR can carry some 15 per cent more passengers on each flight than the airline’s existing B737-800s, to bolster capacity on busy major city routes such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane while its longer range could open up new city pairs.
Deliveries are expected to begin in 2024.
The new planes will be powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, delivering fuel savings of between 15-20 per cent to aid emission reduction efforts, Qantas said.