The first of 29 A220-300 aircraft will arrive in Australia before the end of 2023 and is part of the Qantas Flying Art Series, having been painted with the work of Indigenous artist Maringka Baker.
Her design has more than 20,000 dots and took more than 100 painters to execute on the aircraft body.
These aircraft will be part of the QantasLink fleet and will mostly connect smaller Australian capitals with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The new planes have 25 per cent more seats than the Boeing 717s that they replace and have twice the flying range – at 6,000km, they can connect any two Australian cities and would also be capable of reaching Bali, Jakarta and all of New Zealand from Australia’s four major ports – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
The new aircraft will also burn 25 per cent less fuel per seat compared to the older generation of aircraft Qantas is currently flying.
“These aircraft have the potential to change the way our customers travel across the country, with the ability to connect any two cities or towns in Australia,” said Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson.
“That means faster and more convenient travel for business trips and exciting new possibilities for holiday travel. A whole new fleet type also means a lot of opportunities for our people to operate and look after these aircraft.”
In time, more efficient flying will be an advantage for business events around Australia – potentially increasing the number of delegates travelling from regional areas as well as decreasing the environmental cost of attending conferences in person.
Qantas will receive an additional six A220-300s by mid-2025.
