Qantas orders widebodies with Airbus and Boeing

During the presentation of its financial performance over the last fiscal year, Qantas announced it has ordered a total of 24 widebody aircraft with both Airbus and Boeing. The new aircraft will be used to start the replacement of the airline's A330s. Last year, Scramble reported that the airline has started a tendering process for this.

With Airbus, Qantas is ordering twelve A350-1000s, which are scheduled to start to arrive from fiscal year (FY) 2028 onwards. Boeing also got an order for twelve aircraft, four B787-9s and eight B787-10s, with deliveries starting in FY27. Next to these firm orders, the airline also secured additional options for both types to complete the replacement of the A330 and the A380.

Qantas is today operating a fleet of sixteen A330-200s, ten A330-300s, ten A380s, 75 B737-800s, and fourteen B787-9s. Next to these new orders, the airline has open orders with Airbus for 29 A220-300s (and 85 purchase options), 20 A321-200NYs (nine purchase options), and twelve A350-1000ULRs. It currently doesn't have any open orders with Boeing, having taken delivery of its final B787-9 it had on order on 21 July 2023.

Illustration by Qantas.