Qantas’ newest jet spreads its wings to Singapore

With the last QantasLink Boeing 717 being put out to pasture last month, the new Airbus A220 is coming into its own – and as more than just a short-range regional jet.

The nimble A220 already connects Sydney and Melbourne with Hobart, Launceston and Coffs Harbour, along with Melbourne to Canberra and Brisbane.

But in the coming months, Melbourne-Darwin and then Darwin-Singapore will be added to the Qantas A220 network.

Those routes speak to the range and efficiency of the A220, says QantasLink CEO Rachel Yangoyan, who is busily making sure her A220s are kept busy.

“You’ll see it come down (from Darwin) and then cycle through Melbourne onto all the other routes,” Yangoyan told Executive Traveller ahead of the final Boeing 717 flight.

“The 717s weren’t necessarily utilised as much as or as many hours per day as we will the A220s.”

Qantas' A220 business class.

This approach also helps fill any shortfall between the QantasLink 717 fleet – which numbered nine jets when the first A220 took wing – and the current fleet of just four A220s.

A fifth A220 is due to arrive by year’s end, and two more by mid-2025 – catching up to the seven which Qantas originally expected to have in December 2024.

Yangoyan says the A220 is being supplemented by a mix of ‘Dash 8’ Q400 turboprops, leased Embraer E190s and even some Boeing 737s.

“When you step back and actually look at capacity, when you manage the fleet holistically, there’s no change in capacity with those 717s.”

Qantas will eventually hold the keys to 29 A220s by the end of 2027 “and we know we’re going to need all 29.”

Qantas' A220 economy class.

Review: Qantas A220 business, economy class

Bound for Singapore

While Qantas had slated the returning Darwin-Singapore route for an Embraer E190 leased from Alliance Airlines, Yangoyan explains the A220 provides “greater capacity with the additional seats, and the economics of it makes sense.”

Yangoyan says this will also be the first time the QantasLink brand, rather than that of its parent, will be seen outside Australia – but “it’s still the red tail, it’s still Qantas and very much the Qantas experience that our customers know and love, and it comes back to the A220 being the right aircraft for that route.”

Will passengers agree? Going up against incumbent Singapore Airlines is no easy task, especially when both airlines’ prices are on par and Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX offers seatback screens – controversially missing from the red-tailed A220 – along with fully lie-flat seats in business class.

Singapore Airlines' 737 MAX: business class beds, and screens for every seat.

The 737 MAX also has free WiFi, which Qantas says won’t be offered on the A220 until late 2025, when the ViaSat-3 Asia Pacific F3 satellite comes online.

(Qantas says the A220s come equipped for both the Australian NBN and international ViaSat-3 satellites, with the capability to switch between networks depending where the aircraft is flying.)

Review: Singapore Airlines 737 MAX business class

That said, Yangoyan believes “there are many reasons why customers will choose Qantas”, citing the airline’s “loyalty program and proposition” including status perks, “the schedule and (also) how it connects into our services out of Singapore to London.”

“We feel confident (the route) is going to do well, which is why we've made the call to commence operations there, and we feel confident that the A220 is a great experience for our customers on board.”

However, Yangoyan sees international routes as being the exception rather than the rule for the A220.

“We’ve got still a lot to do in terms of replacing the 717, so while I’d never say never, largely we will be focused on connecting Australian cities with the A220.”

“But the range and the capability of these aircraft means that if demand changes, we’ve got the ability to be flexible and look at what that provides.”