It was just over a month ago when I talked about the newest Qantas fleet addition. Then the Australian airline’s newest plane had just been painted in its special edition livery and just started its test flights. Now the new jet is finally ready to make its way to its new home down under. Here’s all about Qantas receiving its first Airbus A220-300.
In this post:
The delivery of the new Qantas A220-300
For the non aviation geeks reading this post, delivery of smaller planes as the Airbus A220 can be a tricky affair. The only 2 assembly plants for this particular aircraft type are in North America. One is situated in Mobile, Alabama USA, while the other in Montreal Mirabel Airport. The latter assembly plant is generally the one from which planes get delivered to worldwide customers, while the Mobile plant mostly serves the US market.
What makes delivering an aircraft of this type tricky, particularly to Australia, is the huge stretch of Ocean the plant has to overfly. On a full load of passengers it wouldn’t be possible. However with a completely empty cabin, there is enough range to hop from island to island before landing in mainland Australia.
In this specific case the aircraft, registration VH-X4A, left the Mirabel-Montreal Airport making its way to Australia with stops in:
- Vancouver
- Honolulu
- Nadi
Image by GCmap.com
How Will QF Use The New A220-300s?
The plane will be a real game changer for Qantas domestic operations. The plane will be joining the QantasLink division of the airline, which serves both metropolitan areas and regional services across Australia.
What makes the A220 a game changer for the Aussie airline is the fact that its range, in contrast with the Boeing 717s it’s replacing, allows it to serve any airport in the country non stop. Transcontinental flights will now be possibile on smaller QantasLink flights too now.
Also the great fuel economics of the plane open endless route possibilities within Australia to serve in a profitable fashion more and more destinations compared with before.
Finally the seat configuration. Qantas has setup these new A220-300s with:
- 10 Business Class seats in a 2-2 layout
- 127 Economy Class seats in a 2-3 standard layout
