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Tour company to use Qantas Boeing 747 for private around-the-world charter

written by australianaviation.com.au | April 12, 2017

Qantas cabin crew member Bridget Simpson, Qantas Boeing 747 Fleet Senior Training Captain David Oliver and Constellation Journeys founder Dan Kotzmann. (Constellation Journeys)
Qantas cabin crew member Bridget Simpson, Qantas Boeing 747 Fleet Senior Training Captain David Oliver and Constellation Journeys founder Dan Kotzmann. (Constellation Journeys)

Qantas’s evergreen Boeing 747-400s will host passengers on a private around-the-world charter being organised by newly established travel company Constellation Journeys.

The announcement of the charter was made at Qantas’s Mascot jetbase, with Constellation Journeys founder and managing director Dan Kotzmann alongside Qantas charter manager Domenic Lafaro and Qantas Boeing 747 Fleet Senior Training Captain David Oliver with one of the Flying Kangaroo’s 747s, VH-OJS, in the background.

The inaugural tour, which takes off from Sydney on April 22 2018 and returns on May 12 2018, will be operated by Qantas pilots (two captains and a first officer) alongside 18 cabin crew and seven support staff.

Captain Oliver, who will be in command of the flights, said he was looking forward to the experience.

“I am extremely privileged to be a part of Constellation Journeys’ inaugural trip and am honoured to command your privately chartered Qantas 747 across seven staggering global destinations,” Captain Oliver said in the trip brochure.

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“My years of experience as a line pilot and more recently as a training captain on the 747 mean I am commanding my favourite aircraft for this flight.”

Qantas Boeing 747 Fleet Senior Training Captain David Oliver, Constellation Journeys founder Dan Kotzmann, Qantas charter manager Domenic Lafaro and Qantas cabin crew member Bridget Simpson. (Constellation Journeys)

Constellation Journeys plans to offer economy, premium economy, business and first class for the charter, suggesting the aircraft to be used will be either VH-OEB or VH-OJM, given these are the airframes that still have Qantas’s old first class product in the nose, while the remaining three 747-400s and six 747-400ERs in the fleet have been reconfigured to a three-class layout comprising business, premium economy and economy.

Currently, Qantas’s 11 747-400/400ERs serve Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Tokyo (Haneda), Johannesburg, San Francisco, New York City and Santiago.

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Comments (8)

  • Jarden

    says:

    Will Qantas have enough 747 capacity to cover the existing schedules with one away for this charter.

  • ButFli

    says:

    I’d be upset to pay full price for business class and wind up on OEB or OJM.

  • Alex

    says:

    @Jarden
    This will be when 787s have come into service so it would be one of the 747s scheduled to be retired.

  • Dana Crumpton

    says:

    Where can we inquire about prices?

  • Andrew Harvey

    says:

    The route will be interesting.
    Always thought the old Fiesta route plus a selection of the original 707 Kangaroo route stopovers could make a fantastic round the world trip.

  • Vannus

    says:

    To Andrew above……

    Yes, the ‘Fiesta Route’ was a fab way to get to LON………the via-points of NAN, PPT, ACA, MEX, NAS, BDA were SO exotic!

    I flew this route four times, & loved it!

    My Boeing 707-338C was always VH-EAI, the ‘City of Darwin’.
    It holds my record for ‘flying miles’ on the one aeroplane!

    Ah! those were the days!

  • Rodney Marinkovic

    says:

    Impressive way to have flight of life. 12 years ago I have celebrated 35 years of flights as passanger.
    That flights was: Sydney, Auckland, Santiago, Punta Arena, Santiago, Lima, Miami, Washington, San Francisco, Anchorage, Seattle, Honolulu, Seoul, H0ng Kong, Johannesburg, Dakar (Senegal), New York, London, Belgrade, Tivat, Belgrade, Vienna, Frankfurt, Singapore, Perth, Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney. That mega journey was in economy class. Took 15 days to finishing.
    You can refer to Qantas News of February 2005, Vol. 53, /Issue 2/. On last page, under title:
    “No place like Qantasville”.
    Next week is my 76 th. flight from Serbia to Australia. Looking forward to Sydney Kingsford Smith International .
    Rodney & people of Qantas endless saga!!!.

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