What will replace the A330 in Qantas?

Dubbed 'Project Fysh', in recognition of airline co-founder Sir Hudson Fysh, Qantas will replace the aging Airbus A330s with a new fleet of Boeing 787 and Airbus A350-1000 jets. The mixed-fleet order includes 24 firm orders – four Boeing 787-9, eight Boeing 787-10 and 12 Airbus A350-1000s.



In 2026, Qantas is in the midst of a massive fleet modernization program where the Airbus A321XLR and the Airbus A350-1000 are the primary successors to the aging Airbus A330 fleet. For shorter, "thinner" international routes and high-demand domestic corridors (like Brisbane to Manila or Sydney to Perth), the narrow-body A321XLR is the primary replacement. This aircraft offers roughly 200 seats and the range to fly up to 9 hours, allowing Qantas to replace the wide-body A330 with a more fuel-efficient option that can sustain daily frequencies. For the longer, high-capacity international routes to the US, Europe, and Asia, the Airbus A350-1000 is the designated heavy-lifter. Specifically, the ultra-long-range version of the A350 is being used for "Project Sunrise" flights, which are non-stop journeys from Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York. This transition marks a shift away from older twin-aisle jets toward a mix of ultra-efficient narrow-body planes for regional hops and next-generation carbon-fiber wide-bodies for the world's longest commercial flights.

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Qantas has opted to buy 12 787-10s and -9s and 12 more A350s to replace its A330 and A380 aircraft. The multi-billion dollar order is split between 12 Airbus A350s and 12 Boeing 787s arriving from FY27 into the next decade.

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Leading the way in long-haul travel As part of our commitment to serving large markets with point-to-point connections, 12 new A350-1000ULRs aircraft will be added to the fleet from late 2025.

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Qantas is upgrading its A380s with new business class seats and lounges. “But as part of the pipeline we're building, I can announce they will be replaced by the Airbus A350 from about FY32 onwards.”

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Qantas will begin to retire its fleet of Airbus A330 aircraft from July 2027, with the A380 superjumbo following it out the door five years later, as the final piece in its fleet renewal program which will see the jets replaced by fuel-efficient Airbus A350-1000 and a mix of Boeing 787 aircraft models.

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For instance, even though it may look different, the 787 flight deck operates just like the flight deck on a 777. As a result, it takes as few as five days of training for 777 pilots to qualify as 787 pilots.

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So why has Airbus decided to kill it? The main reason the company will halt production of A380 after 12 years, from 2021, is the low number of planes sold. “In the end, you have to face facts, and we could see that we were building A380s faster than people were ordering them,” Lange says.

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Air France-KLM has revealed plans to retire its older widebody fleet, in favor of more modern, fuel-efficient aircraft. The Franco-Dutch airline group already withdrew the mighty Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 from service following the pandemic, and is now making plans to retire its aging Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.

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What is the longest flight in the world by distance? The longest flight in the world by distance is New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) on Singapore Airlines clocking in at 9,537 miles. What plane can fly the farthest in the world?

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