Qantas Prepares to Take Two Dry-Leased A330s From Finnair

By Andrew Curran.

Two A330-300s that Qantas is dry leasing from Finnair are preparing to ferry to Australia after finishing flying for the Finnish carrier and emerging from the paint shop in Qantas livery.

In July, Aero South Pacific reported on the lease deal, which would see Qantas lease OH-LTR (msn  1067) and OH-LTU (msn VH-QPL) from Finnair. The aircraft, which will enter the Australia register as VH-QPK and VH-QPL, respectively, will help Qantas maintain its schedules pending the delivery of additional B787s.

OH-LTU was photographed at Helsinki Airport (HEL) in late September after repainting – the distinctive red and white livery a rare sight at that airport. The A330 had ferried to Helsinki from the paint shop at Chateauroux Airport (CHR) in France’s Centre-Val de Loire region on September 28.

OH-LTR flew to Chateauroux the previous day, September 27, for repainting. OH-LTU spent around three weeks at the paint shop. Both aircraft are expected to fly to Australia later this month.

Both aircraft have 279 seats, including 230 economy, 21 premium economy, and 28 business seats. The two planes are almost 16 years old. They are not exactly spring chickens but well below the current average age of the Qantas A330-300 fleet, which is 21.2 years.

No changes have been be made to the cabins – which are familiar to many Qantas passengers, given two Finnair aircraft are already operating on a wet-lease basis for the airline.

Qantas currently uses those wet-leased A330s to operate its daily Sydney (SYD) – Bangkok (BKK) – Sydney rotation and one of its daily Sydney – Singapore (SIN) – Sydney rotations. Later this month, Qantas plans to take the wet-leased aircraft off the Bangkok route, redeploying it onto the Sydney – Honolulu (HNL) route. Qantas will then use one of the A330s it operates on the Thailand run.

The original wet lease agreements included a provision for Qantas to transition from wet leases to dry leases. OH-LTR was one of the wet-leased Finnair jets used by Qantas, but it returned to Finland in August. The two A330-300s that Qantas currently wet-leases are OH-LTS (msn 1078) and OH-LTM (msn 0994).

It is unclear whether Qantas will rely on all four Finnair aircraft over the upcoming Southern Hemisphere summer, or send one back. However, the summer schedules suggest Qantas will need the four aircraft. It is also unclear how long the two dry-leased A330s will stay at Qantas for, although one Finnish aviation blog suggested it would be for “a long time.”

The Qantas A330s (both -300 and -200 models) underpin much of the airline’s Australia – Asia network. They fly to Jakarta (CGK), Denpasar (DPS), Manila (MNL), Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong (HKG), Tokyo Narita (NRT), and Tokyo Haneda (HND). They are reliable and sturdy planes, but are getting old. 

The Qantas A330 fleet comprises 26 aircraft and the youngest is an A330-200, VH-EBV (msn 1365), that is 12.9 years old. The oldest is also an A330-200, VH-EBA (msn 508), that is 23 years old. Half the fleet (13 aircraft) is 20 years or older. The aircraft deliver a mixed passenger experience, but Qantas is refurbishing at least ten of them, focusing on the often criticised economy cabin. The refurbishment will include new economy seats with larger screens and USB-C charging, new carpets and curtains, and new mood lighting.  

B787s and other aircraft (such as A321-200XLRs) will eventually replace the A330 fleet. In addition to the fourteen B787-9s Qantas currently operates, it has four B787-9s and eight B787-10s on order. But the airline does not expect any B787 deliveries until at least 2027, and Boeing’s delivery timelines are notoriously unreliable. Until then, the Finnair leases and the A330 refurbishment program are helping to plug the capacity gap.

Photo credit: Aleksi Hämäläinen.