Qantas Holidays Limited history

In 1921, the airline's head office was moved from Winton to Longreach, another small Queensland outback town.

Qantas’s first regular service, between Charleville and Cloncurry, began in 1922; in the following years other local routes were added.

Eventually, in 1924, the company found an aircraft up to the challenge: the de Havilland DH50.

In 1925 the Qantas route expanded, now covering 1,300km.

And in 1926 the company oversaw the production of its first aircraft, a De Havilland DH50, capable of carrying four passengers.

Qantas staked a further claim in Australian history in 1928 when it agreed to lease an aircraft to the newly established Australian Aerial Medical Service, the Flying Doctors, to provide medical treatment in the outback.

On April 17, 1929, Qantas inaugurated the 710-kilometer Charleville-Brisbane service on the first direct link to the coast, bringing its total route network to nearly 2,380 kilometers.

By the winter of 1930, Qantas had carried more than 10,000 passengers.

The original link with Britain's Imperial Airways took place in 1931, when Qantas assisted in carrying the first official airmail as part of an experimental Australia-Britain route.

The new weekly transcontinental service began on December 10, 1934.

In 1935 it completed its first passenger flight from Brisbane to Singapore, taking four days.

In 1936, a second weekly service was begun between Brisbane and Singapore.

In June, 1938, two Shorts S.23 Empire flying boats join the fleet, and the first flight attendant of the airline gets employed.

The Qantas hangar and flying boat servicing facilities were destroyed in the first Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942.

In 1943, an agreement was signed between QEA, the British Air Ministry, and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC--formerly Imperial Airways) to reestablish an air link between Britain and Australia.

In 1944, Qantas Liberators were the first to carry the flying kangaroo symbol.

Passengers were awarded a certificate of membership to ‘The Rare and Secret Order of the Double Sunrise’. Liberator aircraft took over in 1945 and passengers received ‘The Elevated Order of the Longest Hop.’ Qantas Liberators were the first to carry the flying kangaroo symbol.

Instead, in October 1946 an order worth AUD 5.5 million was placed with Lockheed for four Constellation aircraft.

In 1947 the Australian Commonwealth government purchased Qantas and designated the company Australia’s flag carrier.

In October 1953, QEA received permission to operate its first scheduled service to North America with the transfer of this service from the previous operator, British Commonwealth Pacific Airways (BCPA). QEA eventually took over BCPA.

In 1954 Qantas also began passenger services to the United States and Canada.

An agreement had been signed in 1957 for QEA to operate between Britain and Australia via the United States.

In 1958, Qantas became a round-the-world-airline, flying from Australia to London via Asia and the Middle East (the Kangaroo Route) and via the Southern Cross route (flights to Vancouver via Auckland, Nadi, Honolulu and San Francisco), using Super Constellations.

In June 1959 Qantas entered the jet age when the first Boeing 707–138 was delivered.

Qantas had been forced to surrender this route to TAA in 1960.

By 1964, 13 707 jetliners were operating on most of the Qantas routes, and the airline had begun selling off its aging propeller-driven aircraft.

In 1965, Qantas introduces its first TV ads and, one year later, the Fiesta route opens – Sydney to London via Tahiti, Mexico City, and Bermuda.

By March 1966, Qantas's Boeing fleet had reached 19 jets, six of which were the larger 707-338C series, with five more on order.

The airline also changed its name on August 1, 1967, to Qantas Airways Limited.

In 1971, the Boeing 747-238Bs joined the fleet, being introduced on the Kangaroo Route.

In return, the CAB allowed Qantas to begin 747 services to the United States in January 1972.

The new government confirmed its predecessor's decision that Qantas would replace the two domestic airlines Ansett and TAA on the highly profitable route between Port Morseby and Australia after Papua New Guinea (PNG) became independent on December 1, 1973.

The Boeing 747 jumbo jet expanded Qantas’ capacity further and the extra room was put to good use in 1974 when Qantas flights evacuated 4925 people from Darwin after it was struck by a cyclone.

With the sale of its last Boeing 707 in 1979, Qantas became the world's first airline to operate a fleet composed entirely of Boeing 747s.

The latter would help service airports such as Adelaide, which joined the Qantas network in November 1982, and Cairns, Darwin, and Townsville.

After the election of the new Labor (ALP) government in 1983, one of its first actions was to increase Qantas's capital base from AUD 89.4 million to AUD 149.4 million.

Qantas returned to profitability in 1984, making a record pretax profit from airline operations of AUD 58 million in the year to March 31.

In 1985, the Boeing 767-200 joined the fleet, operating on the New Zealand, Asia and Pacific routes.

The record profits made in 1986-87 of AUD 63.4 million showed that the airline had become one of Australia's top export earners.

In 1988, the governments of Australia and New Zealand decided to merge and partially privatize their state-owned airlines, Qantas, Australian Airlines (formerly TAA), and Air New Zealand.

In 1989, the Australian government proposed the complete privatization of Qantas because in order to remain competitive it needed substantial capital injections, which the government was unable to fund.

In 1990, Qantas reported a loss as a result of its fleet expansion program and the five-month-long domestic pilots' dispute.

It was decided to lay off 5,000 employees, sell nine Boeing 747s earlier than planned, and cut flying hours by 14 percent in the year to June 30, 1991.

At the same time, it was revealed that AUD 5.4 billion was to be spent on aircraft by 1992 and that the company would need a capital injection of AUD 600 million by the Australian government unless shares were sold to private investors.

Meanwhile, in March 1993 the Australian government pumped AUD 1.35 billion into Qantas to enhance the company's competitive position ahead of privatization.

The long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) finally took place in July 1995, and the company's shares were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange; the foreign ownership limit was set at 49 percent.

In March 1997, Qantas sold its 19.9 percent stake in Air New Zealand to ANZ Securities for NZD 425 million ($295 million), using the after-tax profits of AUD 66.8 million to reduce debt.

In 1998, Qantas co-founded the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines and Cathay Pacific, with other airlines joining subsequently.

More than 20 million passengers flew the airline in 2000.

Geoff Dixon, Qantas CEO since March 2001, told Aviation Week the company was aiming to let domestic market share slip no lower than 65 percent in the face of new competition, including Richard Branson's Virgin Blue entrant.

Qantas posted a net profit of AUD 428 million ($230 million) on revenues of AUD 11.3 billion (up 11 percent) in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2002.

Qantas teamed with Australia Post to acquire Star Track Express, a 30-year-old freight carrier, in late December 2003.

In 2004, the Qantas group expanded into the Asian budget airline market with Jetstar Asia Airways, in which Qantas owns a minority stake.

In December 2006, Qantas was the subject of a failed bid from a consortium calling itself Airline Partners Australia.

In late October, 2008, the Airbus A380 joins the Qantas fleet with a first flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles.

In 2009, Qantas kept expanding its range of services by introducing International Online Check-In and Advance Seat Selection.

In 2010, Qantas introduced the Next Generation Check-in and Q Bag Tag (a permanent tag that contains world first RFID technology allowing information of the passenger and flight details to be electronically imprinted) reducing domestic check-in times for customers.

In 2011, Qantas expanded Next Generation Check-in technology across its regional network and launched the first stage of its international Faster, Smarter Check-in with new Q Card Readers for trans-Tasman frequent flyers.

In 2012, a Commercial Agreement was signed to form the world’s leading airline partnership between Qantas and Emirates.

In 2015, Qantas partnered with HBO to bring its customers hundreds of hours of the most popular TV shows programs.

The first Boeing B787 Dreamliner was used on some domestic routes before commencing long-haul operations, its first international service on the Melbourne – Los Angeles route starting December 15, 2017.

On March 25, 2018, with the new Boeing B787 Dreamliners, Qantas became the first airline to ever connect Australia and Europe by a direct air link.

In 2019, Qantas will start the Airbus A380 refurbishment program that includes refurbished First Class suites, new Business Suites, new Premium Economy seats, almost 10% wider than the previous model, new Economy seat cushions, and improved inflight entertainment.

In November 2020, Qantas announced that the company will ask for proof of COVID-19 vaccination from international travelers.