Qantas Airlines
Qantas Airlines is the national airline of Australia. Qantas is Australia’s largest airline with its main hub at Sydney International Airport. Qantas also has hubs at Melbourne Airport, Brisbane Airport and Perth Airport. Qantas operates international flights into Brisbane, Parth, Singapore, Los Angeles and London.
The world’s second oldest airlines in continuous operation and the oldest airline in the English-speaking world, Quantas was founded in 1920. It is a member of the Oneworld alliance, one of the world’s largest airline alliance programs.
Qantas is both privately held and of the world’s very most profitable airlines. Voted third best in the world by the World Airline Awards in 2008, Qantas and its subsidiaries maintain hundreds of Boeing and Airbus planes, naming each after Australian aviators, Australian cities, Australian cities, Greek gods and goddesses, and stars.
Always spelled without a “u,” the name of the airline actually is an acronym for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.”
Adventure travelers seeking to tour Antarctica can fly on Qantas charters booked by Croydon Travel. Qantas flew its first tours of Antarctica in 1977. These tours were suspended in 1979 after the disastrous crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 on Mt. Erebus, but were restarted the summer of 1994. Qantas ensures that all its Antarctic flight crews have had extensive training in polar operations and know what to do in whiteouts, such as those that contributed to the 1979 Air New Zealand disaster.
Qantas believes in rewarding customer loyalty, which is the basis of its frequent flyer program. Passengers accrue points based on distance flown, with bonuses that vary by travel class. Points can be earned on both Qantas flights and Oneworld alliance member flights. Qantas has faced criticism regarding availability of seats for members redeeming points, so Qantas overhauled its frequent flyer program in July 2008. The two key new features are Any Seat rewards, in which members can redeem any seat on the plane at a price. The second new feature is Points Plus Pay, where members can use a combination of cash and points to redeem an award.
Qantas is the first airline to offer mobile phone usage during flight. In addition, the airline offers wireless internet access as well as seat-back access to email and cached web browsing. Qantas also has an extensive in-flight entertainment system. There are two systems. One is an audio/video on demand system called the Total Entertainment System. The other entertainment system is the Mainscreen System, where drop-down video screens show either movies or television programs, depending on the length of the flight.
Qantas recently announced its scheme to reduce its carbon footprint. It now allows passengers to fly carbon neutral, and to pay for their contribution to the carbon offset plan in either cash or frequent flier points. Qantas donates the proceeds of the program to verified offset projects with a government-certified Green Friendly certification. Olympian and swimmer Ian Thorpe and professional golfer Greg Norman are the program’s spokesmen.
