Qantaslink
is one of the many brands in the Qantas Group in Australia. Similar to several airlines in the US, QantasLink operates shorter, regional flights that are not mainline routes. Until January of this year, QatasLink operated Airbus A320s, Boeing 717s, Fokker 100s, Embraer E190s, and De Havilland Canada Dash 8 400s.
The A320s and Fokker 100s are primarily used for charter flights and fly-in-fly-out operations. The 717s were retired in October, leaving only two airlines worldwide operating the type, and the A220 has joined the QantasLink fleet. Another aircraft type that recently joined the fleet is the A319.
Photo: Qantas
Early in the year, QantasLink welcomed its first A319. In an investor report, it confirmed it was purchasing four planes in addition to the five already purchased. Since the beginning of the year, QantasLink has received the first five planes, all of which were previously operated by Spirit Airlines.
Photo: Qantas
Each aircraft has been given a special name:
- Karijini
- Kings Park
- Cape Leeuwin
- Geographe Bay
- Abrolhos Islands
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Qantas Ends Boeing 717 Era As More Airbus A220s Takeover
Yesterday, QantasLink operated its last Boeing 717 commercial flight, with the aircraft coming to rest at Canberra Airport in the nation’s capital.
About each plane
The first A319 to be delivered to QantasLink is now registered as VH-8NP. The 19.6-year-old plane is operated by Network Aviation for QantasLink. According to data from ch-aviation, the A319 was delivered to Spirit Airlines
on May 23, 2005.
VH-8NP previously bore the registration N503NK. It was part of Spirit’s fleet until April 20, 2023, and was not picked up by Qantas until January. As of August 31st, the plane had flown more than 62,000 hours, an average of eight hours and fifty minutes per day.
Photo: Alan Wilson | Flickr
Since joining the fleet in January, VH-8NP has been used on flights under two hours. Data shows that the aircraft reached its highest usage in July, flying for about four hours and twenty-five minutes daily.
The second plane was delivered to Australia in April. Registered as VH-8NQ, the second A319 is 19.55 years old. This aircraft was also delivered to Spirit nearly two decades ago.
Data shows the delivery date as May 31, 2005. The A319 remained in operation with Spirit until February, moving to storage at Coolidge Municipal Airport (P08). The plane was stored from February 2023 to April 24th but was moved several times during that period.
In August, the A319 was flown to Macon, Georgia, where it remained for 19 days. In late August, it returned to Coolidge and was there until the end of December. Late last year, the aircraft was moved to Lake City Municipal Airport (LCQ) in Florida.
Halfway through the year, Qantas had three of the first five planes it was expecting. VH-8NR was delivered on June 11th and made its way from Puerto Rico to Australia on June 13th. This A319 was delivered to Spirit on June 21, 2005, and served the airline for 18 years.
As of August 31st, VH-8NR had flown over 60,000 hours. Over its lifetime, the A319’s average flight time has been two hours and nine minutes. In June, its average flight time was three hours and forty minutes, significantly higher than other months as it had longer flights during its delivery process.
Since being delivered, VH-8NR has been used on flights averaging one hour and fifty minutes. Its total daily flying time has remained around four hours.
VH-8NS was formerly registered as N506NK with Spirit. The plane bore the Spirit livery from its June 2005 delivery to the airline until September, when it was handed over to QantasLink. Despite being a 19-year-old plane, Collateral Verifications LLC values the plane at more than $10 million.
Throughout its near two decades of life, VH-8NS has operated flights an average of two hours and eight minutes. As of August 31st, its total flight hours had reached 59,378. Like the third delivery to Qantas, VH-8NS was ferried from Puerto Rico.
The last plane was delivered to Qantas Link just last month. The final of the first five ex-Spirit A319s is now registered as VH-8NZ. This is the youngest A319 of the five, at 16.84 years.
VH-8NZ was formerly registered as N534NK and delivered to Spirit on February 15, 2008. The American carrier retired the plane exactly 15 years later. It was then flown to Macon, Georgia, where it stayed for a few weeks in May of this year. After that, it went to Puerto Rico, where it remained until the beginning of October.
The plane was ferried from Puerto Rico, making five stops before reaching its destination on the western coast of Australia. After being on the ground in Perth for 17 days, the A319 entered commercial service. The first passenger flight with QantasLink was from Perth to Karratha.
Ferry routes
Of the five planes, only two were ferried on the same route from the US. The first of the two planes were ferried from Lake City, Florida, while the final three were ferried from Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández (BQN) in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The one airport that every single A319 had in common was Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu.
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Spotted: What Was A QantasLink Airbus A319 Doing At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport?
The plane made a quick pitstop amid a lengthy journey to begin a new life in the land down under.
Every A319, except the first, made its third stop at Faleolo International Airport (APW) in Samoa. The first two planes made their first stop in Oakland, while the final three made their first stop in Phoenix. The fourth aircraft flew to Seletar Airport (XSP) in Singapore for maintenance.
All the planes were delivered to Perth, where they are based and have been flying. Below is the route each plane took to get to Perth:
- LCQ-OAK-HNL-MAJ-CNS-PER
- LCQ-OAK-HNL-APW-BNE-PER
- BQN-PHX-HNL-APW-BNE-PER
- BQN-PHX-HNL-APW-CNS-XSP
- BQN-PHX-HNL-APW-BNE-PER