Register #399 | 540 jets change hands in strongest quarter this year

Speaking of compensating for delivery delays, Qantas has also welcomed two additional “mid-life” Boeing 737-800s. The new registrations, VH-XZQ and -XZR, are two of a planned four older B737-800s that will be leased and delivered to aid capacity concerns while the Flying Kangaroo awaits deliveries of its brand new Airbus A321XLR fleet. The older planes are at least planned to see an internal refresh, akin to the airline’s greater 737 interior cabin refurbishment, before entering passenger service.

On that note, Qantas welcomed just one A321XLR this quarter, VH-OGD, to the CASA register this quarter, its fourth of the type. Delivery is yet to take place at the time of writing. With this momentum, it’s possible, though unlikely, that Qantas accepts its planned six XLRs before the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, budget subsidiary Jetstar welcomed a mammoth 13 new aircraft to the CASA register this quarter, including one Airbus A321LR, registered VH-OLQ. The remaining 12 new planes were all imported from Singapore, after Jetstar owner Qantas Group decided to shut down its Singapore-based sister company, Jetstar Asia, and redeploy planes to other parts of the network. The additional capacity will be welcome over the peak Australian summer season and add fuel to the fire of Jetstar’s rapid expansion, as the budget carrier continues to accelerate its pilot recruitment push.

Yet another Airbus A320 was welcomed to the register this quarter as VH-8LI, though this one was not bound for the big commercial players. Instead, -8LI was delivered to Perth-based airline MinRes – a dedicated charter operation built for transporting FIFO resources workers from their home cities to their remote work stations in Kalgoorlie and Wodgina, via Perth. The airline now boasts three planes in the A320 family for its FIFO transport jaunts.

​At the other end of the spectrum, Jetstar offloaded one aircraft this quarter, an A320 formerly registered VH-YXU, which made its way to sister company Jetstar Japan – one can assume this was a planned tradeoff given the uptick in Jetstar’s inventory with the collapse of Jetstar Asia. It’s the second former Jetstar A320 to make its way north to Japan this year, with VH-YXT also being transferred, now registered JA23JJ.

Rival Virgin Australia also offloaded one jet, a Boeing 737 it has held since its Virgin Blue days: VH-VUJ. It’s the second of its kind to be returned to its lessor, as Virgin gears up to take delivery of 13 Boeing 737 MAX jets this financial year. I know what you’re thinking – we couldn’t make it through one Register Review without mentioning a Virgin 737 MAX now, could we? Let’s keep it brief; just one more found its way onto the register this quarter, VH-8VC, the 14th MAX to touch down.