QANTASLINK HAS revealed its
45-strong fleet of Bombardier Q200,
Q300 and Q400 turboprop aircraft
will undergo a multi-million-dollar
cabin upgrade programme to improve
the overall passenger experience.
The aircraft’s interiors will be
refreshed with new ergonomic seat
cushioning, leather upholstery, a
revised colour palette and floor cov-
erings with the work being carried
out across the airline’s maintenance
facilities, including those at
Tamworth Airport.
The revamp programme will start in
June and should be completed within
18 months, with each aircraft taking
approximately three days to upgrade.
The work will be timed to coincide
with scheduled maintenance and will
ensure the turboprop interiors are
similar to those of its jet fleet.
Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO,
remarked: “We’re investing in ourregional fleet at the same time as we
are upgrading our A380 cabins (see
Airliner World, October 2017), so that
passengers, whether they are travelling
to Dubbo or Dallas, Longreach or Los
Angeles, they will enjoy an improved in-
flight experience. We’ve been
connecting communities for nearly
100 years and we’re committed to
investing in our product and services in
regional Australia.”
(Photo Seth Jaworski)Partnership Extension
QANTAS AND Emirates have applied
to the Australian Competition &
Consumer Commission (ACCC)
and the New Zealand Minister of
Transport for approval to extend
their alliance for a further five years
to 2023. Both airlines have also
announced additional network
changes under the partnership which,
they said, will provide customers with
greater year-round frequency and
more services between Australia and
New Zealand. The joint submission
also includes Qantas’ re-routing of
its Sydney to London service via
Singapore rather than Dubai and intro-
ducing Emirates’ new fourth daily
Airbus A380 Sydney-Dubai service.
From March, Emirates will stop fly-
ing from Melbourne and Brisbane toAuckland and instead will focus on its
non-stop Auckland-Dubai service. It
will continue its existing daily A
flights from Dubai to Christchurch via
Sydney and is also evaluating
potential new direct links between
New Zealand and Dubai.
Meanwhile, Qantas will increase the
frequency of services across the
Tasman Sea adding seven new
rotations per week between Brisbane
and Auckland, with some being up-
gauged from a Boeing 737 to a wide-
body A330. These flights will connect
seamlessly to the carrier’s London
services via Perth or Singapore and
Emirates’ network via Dubai. These
changes will also enable Emirates to
reschedule its Australian flights to
create a better spread of departuretimes throughout the day, thereby
offering its customers more choice.
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates
said: “The first five years of the
partnership have been a success.
Reauthorisation of the partnership
will allow us to leverage our combined
network strengths to offer customers
even more flight choices and
reciprocal benefits for our millions of
frequent flyer members.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO, added:
“Since 2013 we have delivered more
choice and a larger network to eight
million passengers who have travelled
more than 65bn kilometres on our
joint network. We are now enhancing
the partnership to reflect customer
demand, new aircraft technology and
our respective network strengths.”QantasLink Turboprop Revamp
http://www.airlinerworld.com 15News Review • Asia/Pacific
Singapore Airlines’ first Boeing 787-
scheduled destination will be to Osaka,
Japan with services expected to start
in May. The airline has 49 of the variant
on order and is due to receive its first
example from Boeing’s North Charleston
production facility in March. Prior to
the jet’s introduction it will fly a selected
number of rotations to Bangkok and Kuala
Lumpur for crew training purposes.Berjaya Hotels & Resorts has revealed
it will be acquiring two pre-owned ATR
42-500s to launch air services from Kuala
Lumpur’s Subang Airport to the Malaysian
island of Redang where the hotel group
has two resorts. Both aircraft will be
reconfigured with a new 36-passenger
cabin layout and will have a special livery
featuring a sea turtle. The hotel group
plans to start flying in June and will
own both aircraft, although they will be
operated by sister company Berjaya Air.Jet Airways has signed a sale and
leaseback agreement with SMBC Aviation
Capital for 13 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, the
first of which will be delivered in August.
The Indian carrier placed a firm order
for 75 of the type at the 2015 Dubai
Airshow in a deal that also includes
converting 25 Next-Generation 737s to
MAX 8s, as well as options and purchase
rights for an additional 50 aircraft.
(Photo Boeing)Qantas Group reports that its wholly-
owned low-cost subsidiary Jetstar
Airways will start taking delivery of the
first batch of airliners from its existing
order for 99 A320neo Family jets from
mid-2020. It says that 18 A321LRs will
be used on routes such as Melbourne
and Sydney to Bali, currently operated
by 787-8 Dreamliners, with the first four
long-range neos adding capacity on
these routes. All 18 A321LRs will be in
service by the end of 2022, replacing the
carrier’s oldest A320s used on domestic
and international routes. Qantas retains
flexibility with the sequencing of the rest
of the A320neo order, which is currently
split 54 A320neos and 45 A321neos.IndiGo Airlines is considering converting
part of its order for 405 Airbus A320neos
to the larger A321LR, reports Swiss
airline intelligence provider ch-aviation.
The conversion will likely cover 20-
aircraft due for delivery during fiscal
year 2018-19 with the jets being used
on new medium- and long-haul services
being planned by the airline. The Indian
low-cost operator is also believed to be
considering an order for A350 XWBs,
but this is dependent on the outcome
of Air India’s privatisation and whether
IndiGo succeeds in acquiring the Indian
flag carrier.in brief
MIAT-Mongolian Airlines’ Boeing 737-8CX, EI-CXV (c/n 32364), is the second example to wear Borussia Dortmund titles. The special black and yel-
low livery is part of a three-year promotional partnership between the Ulaanbaatar-based carrier and the German football club. ANDREAS JACKERTGerman Links for MIAT