Qantas

Qantas Airways is the national airline of Australia. The name was originally QANTAS, an acronym for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". The airline is nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo" because of its logo, and is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport. It is Australia's largest airline and is the world's second oldest continuously operating airline after KLM. Qantas has its headquarters in the Qantas Centre in the Mascot suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It was founded in Winton, Queensland in 1920 as by Paul McGuiness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. The airline's first aircraft was an Avro 504K purchased for £1425. The aircraft had a cruising speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 mph) and carried one pilot and two passengers. Eighty-four year old outback pioneer Alexander Kennedy was the first passenger, receiving ticket number one. The airline operated airmail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in Western Queensland.

The Australian Government sold the domestic carrier Australian Airlines to Qantas in 1992, giving it access to the national domestic market for the first time in its history. The purchase saw the introduction of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A300 to the fleet — though the A300s were soon retired. Qantas’ main international hubs are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. However, they operate a significant number of international flights into and out of Singapore Changi, Los Angeles International and London Heathrow airports. Its domestic hubs are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports, but the company also has a strong presence in Adelaide, Cairns and Canberra. It serves a range of international and domestic destinations.

First class is offered only on the Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A380. On the Boeing 747-400, first class is in the form of flat bed sleeping pods with 79” seat pitch with each seat being 22” wide. It folds flat to form a 6ft 6in fully flat bed. Other features include a 26 cm touch screen monitor with AVOD and personal 110v AC power outlets in every seat. Qantas offers 14 seats on all the 747-400s equipped with first class. Complimentary access to either the first class or business class lounges (or affiliated lounges) is offered. Business class is offered on all international Qantas flights with complimentary access to business class lounges (or affiliated lounges) is offered. Economy class is available on all domestic and international flights operated by Qantas. Seat pitch is 31in on most flights and seat width ranges from 17-17.5in. Executive Economy Class is only available on the selected Boeing 747-400 and all Airbus A380 aircraft.