Qantas Centenary Flight and Australia Post take off – Italiavola & Travel

Qantas Airways announced this announcement:

One hundred years after the first exchange of customer and letters across the Queensland Outback, Qantas and Australia Post will follow the itinerary to recreate the historic 1922 Air Mail and Passenger Service on November 2.

To celebrate this historic occasion, family members of Qantas’ founders, senior frequent flyers and guests associated with Queensland’s premier airmail service will fly QF6661 to attend festive events with the local communities that played a key role in launching the airline and now the national carrier.

Qantas’ founders opened the airline as an airline in November 1920 and spent two years preparing for scheduled services through pilots, raising funds, purchasing aircraft, and planning the first flight path.

Operated by a Bombardier Q400 turboprop, the centenary flight will follow the 882-kilometre route that Qantas founders and pilots Paul McGuinness traveled from Charleville to Longreach and Hudson Fish from Longreach to Cloncurry in an open cabin FK8 biplane for two days. – November 3, 1922.

A replica of the Mailbag will convey 106 handwritten letters from Charleville Schoolchildren to the Longrich and Cloncurry children.

The airline operates up to 16 Australia Post commercial vessels and is preparing for a record Christmas season with increased online retail demand.

To meet the growing demand, Qantas is converting one of its A330 wide-body passenger aircraft into another designated Australian Post cargo ship.

The converted cargo ship will be able to carry approximately 42 tons of freight per flight, nearly double the capacity of the A321 aircraft currently in service with Australia Post. The A330 freighter is expected to become operational in 2023 and will support the permanent shift to online shopping in Australia.

Six Airbus A321P2F aircraft have been approved to join the Qantas freighter fleet from 2023. These aircraft will have 60% more capacity than the Boeing 737 aircraft they are replacing and will consume up to 35% more fuel.

Australia Post has launched a commemorative philatelic set of 12 featuring a series of historical photographs.