Australian Airlines


Australian Airlines was an Australian airline that commenced operations in October 2002 serving Australian and Asian destinations. An all-economy, full-service international leisure carrier, it was a subsidiary of Qantas. Its main hub was at Cairns Airport, with a secondary hub at Sydney Airport. It ceased in June 2006 when the brand retired.

History

In August 2001, Qantas announced it would establish a low cost airline with a cost base 25-30% lower to operate on routes that were unprofitable. The name was a revival of the Australian Airlines brand that Qantas had acquired in September 1992 when it merged with Trans [Australia Airlines|Australian Airlines].
It commenced operations on 27 October 2002 with four former Qantas Boeing 767-300ERs that were reconfigured with 271 economy seats on flights from Cairns to Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Nagoya, Singapore and Taiwan [Taoyuan International Airport|Taipei]. In 2003, a further two 767-300ERs were added for the commencement of flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Ngurah [Rai International Airport|Denpasar].
In June 2006 the Australian Airlines brand was retired. The airline's aircraft were refitted with business class seating and repainted back into Qantas livery.

Destinations

Australian Airlines operated scheduled services to the following destinations:
Suspended prior to ceasing operations

Fleet

When operations ceased in June 2006, Australian Airlines operated five Boeing 767-300ERs.