Jake Nelson

The QF33/34 service to Paris will initially operate four times per week return – dropping to three from mid-August – using Qantas’ 787-9 Dreamliners, with the inaugural 17-hour 20-minute flight departing Perth aboard VH-ZNB at 2:41pm on Friday, 12 July.

The apparent boardroom coup comes weeks after Lim Kim Hai stepped back from his role and long-serving leaders John Sharp and chief operating officer Neville Howell were promoted.

VH-OQH (pictured in Sydney last year) blew out three of its 22 tyres after it was forced to return to Changi Airport due to technical issues shortly after take-off of flight QF1 to London on 7 July.

On-time arrivals were still the second-worst of every major region, above only North America at 74 per cent and well below the global average of 86 per cent.

VH-YQX (pictured) was photographed by a friend of Australian Aviation contributor Rob Finlayson with the majority of its QantasLink branding removed, having arrived in Victorville on 11 April.

On average, the Flying Kangaroo took 97 days to finalise a customer complaint last year, compared to 19 for Rex, 18 for Jetstar and 16 for Virgin Australia. Qantas says it has since improved its time to 15 days in the second half of last year and 11 days in the first half of 2024.