A few question about Qantas?

Question

-Do the on boards TVs located on the back of the seat cost money and how much. I am traveling to Thailand.
Also, would you reccomend them if you have used them before and what types of shows and movies are there?

Do they have good food and roughly, what is the cost? Is it like at a football grand final or like when you go to the supermarket?

Answer 1

Qantas was founded in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territorial Aerial Service Limited.[2] The founders were Paul McGuiness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. Its first aircraft was Avro 504K G-AUBG, purchased for £1425, with a cruising speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 mph) and carrying 1 pilot and 2 passengers.[3] The first passenger was 84 year old outback pioneer Alexander Kennedy, who received ticket number 1. The airline operated air mail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in western Queensland.

Between 1926 and 1928, Qantas built seven De Havilland DH50s and a single DH9 under licence in its Longreach hangar.[4] In 1928 a chartered Qantas aircraft conducted the inaugural flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, departing from Cloncurry.[5]


[edit] Flying boats and war — 1934 to 1945
In 1934, QANTAS Limited and Britain's Imperial Airways (the forerunner of British Airways) formed a new company, Qantas Empire Airways Limited. Each partner held 49%, with two per cent in the hands of an independent arbitrator.[6] The new airline commenced operations in December 1934 flying between Brisbane and Darwin using old fashioned DH50 and DH61 biplanes.


The Short S.23 Qantas Empire Flying Boat
A formation of Australian Catalinas in 1943QEA went international from May 1935, when the service from Darwin was extended to Singapore using newer de Havilland DH-86 Commonwealth Airliners. Imperial Airways operated the rest of the service through to London. In July 1938, this operation was replaced by a thrice weekly flying boat service using Shorts S.23 Empire Flying Boats. The Sydney to Southampton service took nine days, with passengers staying in hotels overnight.[7] For the single year of peace that the service operated, it was profitable and 94% of services were on time. This service lasted through until Singapore fell in February 1942. Enemy action and accidents destroyed half of the fleet of ten, when most of the fleet was taken over by the Australian government for war service.[8]

Flying boat services were resumed with American built PBY Catalinas in July 1943, with flights between Perth and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). This linked up with the BOAC service to London, maintaining the vital communications link with England. The 5,652km non-stop sector was the longest flown up to that time by any airline, with an average flying time of 28 hours. Passengers received a certificate of membership to the "Order of the Double Sunrise" as the sun rose twice during the flight. These flights continued until July 1945.[9]


[edit] The post-war years — 1945 to 1959
After World War II, QEA was nationalised, with the Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley buying the shares of both Qantas Limited and BOAC. The Qantas staff encouraged this, as nationalised airlines were becoming the norm at the time.


Qantas L.749 Constellation VH-EABShortly after nationalisation, QEA began their first services outside the British Empire — to Tokyo via Darwin and Manila with Avro Lancastrian aircraft.[10] These aircraft were also deployed between Sydney and London in cooperation with BOAC. They were soon replaced by Douglas DC-4s and services to Hong Kong began.

In 1948, the airline took delivery of Lockheed L.049 Constellations. In 1952, Qantas expanded across the Indian Ocean to Johannesburg via Perth, Cocos Islands and Mauritius. Around this time, the British Government placed great pressure on Qantas to purchase the De Havilland Comet jet airliner, but Hudson Fysh was dubious about the economics of the aircraft and successfully resisted this. The network was expanded across the Pacific to San Francisco via Auckland, Nadi and Honolulu in early 1954 when it took over the operations of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA).[10] This became known as the Southern Cross route. In 1958, Qantas became one of the very few around-the-world airlines, operating round-the-world services from Australia to London via Asia and the Middle East (Kangaroo Route) and via the Southern Cross route.[11] It took delivery of new turboprop Lockheed Electra aircraft in 1959.


[edit] The jet age — 1959 to 1992
In 1956, Qantas became the first non US airline to order the Boeing 707 jet airliner. Boeing created a special version for Qantas, designated the Boeing 707-138. This aircraft was shortened from the usual version, reducing payload to provide more range for the sectors Qantas had in mind.


Ex-Qantas Boeing 707-138B "V-jet" still in original 1960's livery, now owned by John TravoltaThe first jet aircraft on the Australian register (and the 29th 707 built) was registered VH-EBA and named City of Canberra. This aircraft returned to Australia in December 2006 for display in the Qantas Founders Outback Museum at Longreach, Queensland.[12] On 5 September 1959, Qantas became the third airline to fly jets across the Atlantic — after BOAC and Pan Am. It operated between London and New York as part of the service from Sydney.[13] All of the turbojet aircraft were converted to upgraded turbofan engines in 1961 and were rebranded as V jets from the Latin vannus meaning fan.[14][15]

Air travel grew substantially in the early 1960s, leading Qantas to order the larger Boeing 707-338C series of aircraft. In 1966, the airline diversified its business by opening the 450 room Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. The same year, Qantas placed early options on the new Concorde airliner. At the time supersonic flight was thought of as the way of the future, but along with most airlines in the world the orders were eventually cancelled. Also in 1966, another around-the-world route was opened, the Fiesta route. Sydney to London via Tahiti, Mexico City, Bermuda.

In 1967, the airline placed orders for the new Boeing 747. The aircraft could seat up to 350 passengers, a major improvement over the Boeing 707. Orders were placed for four aircraft with deliveries commencing in 1971. The later delivery date allowed Qantas to take advantage of the -200B version, which better suited its requirements. Also in 1967, Qantas Empire Airways changed its name to just Qantas Airways, the name of the airline today.[16]

When Cyclone Tracy devastated the city of Darwin at Christmas 1974, Qantas established a world record by flying the most people on an aeroplane — 673 people in a Boeing 747.[16] They also established a record for the number of people embarked in a Boeing 707 — 327 people on VH-EAH.[17] Later in the decade, Qantas placed options on two McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft for flights to Wellington, New Zealand. These were not taken up, and two Boeing 747SP were ordered instead. In March 1979, Qantas operated its final Boeing 707 flight from Auckland to Sydney, and became the only airline in the world to operate Boeing 747s exclusively (until 1985). That same year Qantas introduced Business class — the first airline in the world to do so.[18]

The Boeing 767-200 was introduced in 1985,[18] for New Zealand, Asia and Pacific routes. The same year, the Boeing 747-300 was introduced, featuring a stretched upper deck. The Boeing 747 fleet was upgraded from 1989 with the arrival of the new Boeing 747-400 series. The delivery flight of the first aircraft was a world record, flying the 18,001km from London to Sydney non-stop.


A Qantas Boeing 747-438 flies low over the roofs of Myrtle Avenue near London Heathrow Airport.In 1990, Qantas established Australia Asia Airlines to operate services to Taiwan. Several Boeing 747SP and Boeing 767 aircraft were transferred from Qantas service. The airline ceased operations in 1996.[19]


[edit] Privatisation — 1992 to the present
The Australian Government sold the domestic carrier Australian Airlines to Qantas in August 1992, giving it access to the national domestic market for the first time in its history, on order to prepare Qantas for privatisation. The purchase saw the introduction of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A300 to the fleet — though the A300s were soon retired.[19] Qantas was privatised in 1993, with British Airways taking a 25% stake in the airline for A$665m. By law, Qantas must be at least 51% Australian-owned, and the level of foreign ownership is constantly monitored.

In 1998, Qantas co-founded the oneworld alliance with American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, and Cathay Pacific. The alliance commenced operation in February 1999, with Iberia and Finnair joining later that year. Oneworld markets itself at the premium travel market, offering passengers a larger network than the airlines could on their own. The airlines also work together to provide operational synergies to keep costs down.

The main domestic competitor to Qantas, Ansett Australia, collapsed on 12 September 2001. Market share for Qantas immediately neared 90%, with the relatively new budget airline Virgin Blue holding the remainder. In order to capitalise on this event, Qantas ordered Boeing 737-800 aircraft — obtaining them a mere three months later. This unusually short time between order and delivery was possible due to the terrorist attacks in New York City on 11 September — the subsequent downturn in the US aviation market meant American Airlines no longer needed the aircraft they ordered. The delivery positions were reassigned to Qantas on condition the aircraft remained in American Airlines configuration for later possible lease purposes.


Qantas Boeing 747-400At the same time, Virgin Blue announced a major expansion in October 2001,[20] which was successful in eventually pushing the Qantas domestic market share back to 60%. To prevent any further loss of market share, Qantas responded by creating a new cut-price subsidiary airline Jetstar. This has been successful in keeping the status quo at around 65% for Qantas group and 30% for Virgin Blue with other regional airlines accounting for the rest of the market. On 13 December 2004, the first flight of Jetstar Asia Airways took off from its Singapore hub to Hong Kong, marking Qantas' entry into the Asian cut-price market. Qantas owns 44.5% of the carrier.

Qantas has also expanded into the New Zealand domestic air travel market, firstly with a shareholding in Air New Zealand and then with a franchise takeover of Ansett New Zealand. In 2003, Qantas attempted and failed to obtain regulatory approval to purchase a larger (but still minority) stake in Air New Zealand. Subsequently Qantas stepped up competition on the trans-Tasman routes, recently introducing Jetstar to New Zealand. British Airways sold its 18.5% stake in Qantas in September 2004 for £425 million, though keeping its close ties with Qantas intact.

Qantas had also developed a full-service all economy international carrier focused on the holiday and leisure market, which had taken on the formerly used Australian Airlines name. This airline ceased operating its own liveried aircraft in July 2006, the assets being absorbed back into the parent company. However, Australian Airlines continues to exist as a "wet lease" company, operating and crewing Qantas aircraft on Qantas routes.


[edit] Qantas today
Qantas continues to be one of the world's leading large airlines. Its main international hubs are Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport, Melbourne Airport and Brisbane Airport. However, Qantas operates a significant amount of international flights into and out of Perth Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, London Heathrow Airport and Singapore Changi Airport. Its domestic hubs are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports, but the company also has a strong presence in Perth, Adelaide, Cairns and Canberra airports. It serves a range of international and domestic destinations.

Qantas wholly owns Jetstar Airways, and JetConnect (which operates New Zealand domestic services) and QantasLink (including, Airlink, Sunstate and Eastern Australia Airlines).[21] It also has a minor stock holding in Air New Zealand. It also owns 49% of the Fiji-based international carrier Air Pacific. It owns 50% of both Australian Air Express and Star Track Express (a trucking company)[22], with the other 50% of both companies owned by Australia Post. Since its privatisation in 1993, Qantas has been one of the most profitable airlines in the world.[23] It was recently voted 2nd best airline in the world in the 2006 World Airline Awards (with surveys conducted by Skytrax) behind British Airways[24]

Qantas has stepped up the expansion of Jetstar, with the launch of international services (in addition to existing trans tasman and Jetstar Asia flights) to leisure destinations such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and Hawaii from November 2006. On some routes Jetstar will supplement existing Qantas operations but many routes are new to the network. The lower cost base of Jetstar makes these routes feasible.

In recent years it has announced substantial new aircraft orders. Qantas ordered twelve Airbus A380-800, with options for twelve more. It will be the second airline (after launch customer Singapore Airlines) to receive an A380 and is now expected to receive four aircraft by the end of 2008 and seven by mid-2009, after Airbus reported further delays in the delivery. Qantas exercised 8 options on A380s, increasing firm orders to 20 on October 29, 2006. All aircraft are due to be delivered between 2008 to 2015. An additional four A330-200 aircraft were ordered to address capacity concerns due to the A380s service entry delay.[25][26]

On 14 December 2005 Qantas announced an order for 115 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft (45 firm orders, 20 options and 50 purchase rights).[27] The aircraft will allow Qantas to replace their current 767-300 fleet, increase capacity and establish new routes. Jetstar will also operate 10 of the new aircraft on international routes.[28] This announcement came after a long battle between Boeing and Airbus to meet the airline's needs for fleet renewal and future routes. The first of the 787s are scheduled to be delivered to Jetstar in August 2008, with the 787-9s coming in 2011.

Although Qantas did not choose the Boeing 777-200LR, it is rumoured that Qantas is still looking into buying planes capable of flying London-Sydney non-stop.


[edit] Takeover bid
On November 22, 2006, newspapers reported a possible takeover of Qantas. The deal would give 25% of the airline to Macquarie Bank, 25% to other Australian interests, 1% to senior management, and the other 49% to Texas Pacific Group and other foreign investors.[29] Share analysts speculated that $5.50 per share would have been offered. This was increased to an estimate of $6.00 per share after Qantas predicted a 25-30% profit increase for the financial year 2006-2007. Qantas stated that the approach is "confidential and incomplete" but was being investigated.

On December 13, 2006, Qantas announced that it had received a takeover bid from a consortium similar to that in the rumours, offering $5.50 per share. Qantas rejected the bid as being too highly conditional. Following the decision, Qantas shares closed down 14 cents (AU) at $5.09 that day.[30] On December 14, 2006, Qantas announced that it had accepted a revised takeover offer of $5.60 per share from the Macquarie Bank-led private consortium, Airline Partners Australia, following further discussions. This was an increase of 10c over the previous offer.[31][32][1][33] Shareholders are expected to support the recommended takeover in a January 2007 vote, pending approval from the ACCC and Federal Government.


[edit] Promotional activities
Qantas used a small promotional animation on its website to officially announce it will offer in-flight internet services on its fleet of A380s.[34] Qantas also announced that it would trial in-flight use of mobile phones on one of its Boeing 767 aircraft. This will allow customers to send emails and text messages on board, while also being able to make phone calls whilst in flight.[35] Qantas has also launched Online Check in (OLCI) for its domestic Australian flights. Customers are now able to log on to qantas.com 24 hours before their flight departs, select their seat and print a boarding pass, enabling them to bypass check-in at the terminal.[36] It recently re-introduced hot face towels for economy class on all long haul flights.

Qantas is responsible for some of the most successful marketing campaigns in Australian history, with many advertising campaigns featuring renditions by children's choirs of Peter Allen's "I Still Call Australia Home", set to footage of breathtaking scenery. A much earlier campaign aimed at American television audiences featured an Australian koala, who of all things detested Qantas for bringing tourists to destroy his quiet life (his key tagline: "I hate Qantas"). Qantas is the main and shirt sponsor of the "Qantas Wallabies", the Australian national Rugby Union team.

Answer 2

I just answered this question. No need to ask twice.