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Qantas has retired one more Boeing 767 and withdrawn the aircraft from international services as part of its fleet renewal program.
The 767’s last international flight in Qantas colours, which was operated by VH-OGU, landed in Sydney at 1708 on Saturday September 13 after a nine hour 43 minute journey from Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Sydney-Honolulu route will now be operated by Airbus A330-300 or A330-200 aircraft. It was Qantas’s last remaining international route with the Boeing 767.
Qantas’s 767s have between 229 and 227 seats, while the Flying Kangaroo’s internationally configured A330-200s have 235 seats, and its A330-300s have 297 seats. Both Airbus aircraft also have personal inflight entertainment screens in every seat and an improved on-board product.
Separately, Qantas 767-300ER VH-OGR operated its last commercial flight on Friday September 12, a one-hour journey from Melbourne to Sydney that touched down at Kingsford-Smith at 2011 local time.
The aircraft arrived at Qantas factory fresh from Boeing’s Everett facility in 1997 and was named Port Macquarie. It’s name was changed to City of Corowa in 2004. VH-OGR was also flew briefly with Qantas’s shortlived Australian Airlines international leisure operation in 2006.
The withdrawal of VH-OGR leaves Qantas with nine passenger 767s and one freighter. All passenger versions of the type were expected to be gone from the fleet by the end of calendar 2014.
The last Qantas flight with the 767 was scheduled for December 27 2014, according to global distribution systems.
Bill
says:Had my first jet airliner flight on a QF 767 from Melbourne to Sydney when I was 10. Don’t remember the regos, but the return trip I was allowed to visit the flightdeck on arrival to Tulla, that just concreted my love for aviation.
Andrew
says:VH-OGR never operated for Australian Airlines in their livery
ken
says:Didn’t Q recently spend millions “refurbishing” these planes? rather than put the $’s towards modern planes, they (Quantas) seem to be tarting them up for sale. But, they are going to sit in the desert,arn’t they? Can Q afford the fuel to fly them there?
Adam
says:No pleasing people like Ken, if Qantas hadn’t refurbished those aircraft for the last 2 years then people would be whinging saying there was no ‘in flight entertainment’ and so when they do it, even at a cost to keep people happy during their flights, they complain about the money spent on behalf of the said passengers….seriously, in some peoples eyes Qantas is damned if they do and damned if they dont
Glen
says:I think that Qantas should have retired these aircraft long ago and replaced them with more fuel efficent aircraft. That is the only way that they will make a profit not by bashing the unions and cutting back on customer service which of course just makes people less likely to want to fly with Qantas in the first place.
Boggles
says:Sell the old clunkers.they are starting to go u/s a lot in melb.The Dqf containers don’t go in easy very often.Give me an A330 any day…
John
says:the 767 is my favourite plane (well… the 777 might be better…) anyway, its one of those things where everything is SO DATED, (ie squarey, that its becoming in-style again (hey who doesnt like 80s squareyness right?), its SO BAD (ie: even the ‘new & improved lavatory’) where its like ‘what the…. who thought this ever was a good idea, EVER?! EVER. the 2inch sink the size of my fist that splashes water everywhere, the toilet that clogs & makes enormous noise but never flushes right… its like finally “u know what, this… is fine. it does what it needs to do. its a bathroom. its a light…. albeit can’t read from it since the placement is always wrong & dull…. I love it. its so bad that ITS GOOD! it’s also the only plane where I don’t fly business/first class (im serious) row 37 is my home…. the engine blast in that back row is unlike any other jet in existence! i loooooeove the 767!!!! 767 for the win!!!!!
Peter Schooling
says:Yeah love the 767 – always seems to give a really smooth ride in flight. Part of the reason also is the memories of Ansett and their 767’s.
Whilst it’s nice to have the A330’s coming along (albeit mainly Jetstar hand me-downs) there will only be 18 in the domestic fleet. Where you used to be pretty much guaranteed a wide body MEL>SYD you’ve now got to really search them out. Of course if the Dreamliners had been given to Qantas mainline instead of Jetstar, there wouldn’t be that problem would there! How come no journo seems to raise this point.
Pete
says:The 767s will be sorely missed. Loads and unloads faster than a 737, even though it holds 100 more passengers. Also can park in the terminals at SYD and MEL where you can’t fit the A330. It’s just as comfortable flying a MEL-CBR leg as a SYD – Honolulu. Great aircraft.
franz chong
says:I’ll miss the 767’s.My first time on them with Qantas was Adelaide to Sydney on the way to Vancouver in December 1989 and again a month later January 1990 on the final sector home due to the pilots dispute that crippled Ansett and Australian at the time.I later flew in one coming home from New Zealand in July 1990 and Singapore in December 1991.My next time on one was not till 2000 when flying from Sydney to Bali.They were the best and are a comfortable plane.If one is on their own they if the plane isn’t full get a whole row to themselves.Prior to that I had done a Mystery Flight on an Ansett 767 in 1985 and got one Home from Melbourne to Adelaide in June 1989 when the school couldn’t put me on the Overland Train for a School Trip with the rest of the class.Going Over was on a 737 though.
John Harrison
says:Yes the good old Boeing 767’s (remember Qantas had both 767-238ERs and 767-338s) Always happy to fly in a Boeing product anytime. Now adays (living in Perth) its always an Airbus 330, which I guess is progress. I know Qantas’s problem was not really of their own making, the Boeing 787 running so late, so that’s why the B767s have stayed around for longer than planned. My 1st B767 was an Ansett 767-200 SYD/MEL (VH-RMD)in Mar 1989 and 1st 767-338 Was Qantas SYD/BNE (VH-OGC) June 1990. So some 95 flights later on B767s, I’ve got great memories of these Qantas work horses. (Also suggest if you can, look at the 60 mins programme from sunday about Qantas B767-338 VH-OGG going to Victorville in California for storeage.)
Thanks Qantas B767s for the good times.
Mark
says:What a relief! It was like catching a bus when you were at school. Long overdue, as is the 787 in the parent company fleet.