Qantas seals the largest aircraft order in Australian history

As announced by Qantas earlier in August 2011, Qantas and Airbus have sealed a contract for 110 Airbus A320 aircraft which makes it the largest order in Australian aviation history.

The deal is a combination of 78 of the A320neo aircrafts which are scheduled to join the service from 2016 onwards and 32 A320s, which will be delivered to the carrier starting 2013. The A320 and the A320neo which have proven to be a bumper product for the Airbus group and have generated substantial order book for Airbus are intended to be used on both the short and medium haul domestic and international routes for the carrier’s low-cost venture in Japan, Jetstar Japan, and the new Asian-based premium carrier whose regional base is currently pending decision but as per recent reports Singapore (current biggest Qantas hub outside Australia) and Kuala Lumpur (OneWorld elect partner Malaysia Airlines hub) seem to be front-runners in the race.

Qantas is aiming to use the successful low-cost model and the Asian targeted premium airline to help it capture market share in the expanding Asian airline market and also help cut down the losses at its international operations. What remains to be seen is as to how does the airline plan to bring a media strategy so that people identify the many brands being associated with Qantas.