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Posted on 10:37 AM by Wanto and filed under
By Tom Martens

Qantas Airlines is the national airline of Australia. Qantas is Australia?s largest airline with its main hub at Sydney International Airport. Qantas also has hubs at Melbourne Airport, Brisbane Airport and Perth Airport. Qantas operates international flights into Brisbane, Parth, Singapore, Los Angeles and London.

Qantas Airlines was founded in 1920 and is the second oldest continuously operating airline in the world, as well as the oldest operating airline in the English speaking world. It is a member of the Oneworld alliance, one of the largest airline alliance programs in the world.

Qantas is privately held, and also one of the world's most profitable air carriers. The World Airline Awards voted Qantas third best airline in the world in 2008. Quantas and its affiliates maintain hundreds of Airbus and Boeing planes, naming each after stars, Greek gods and goddesses, famous Australian aviators, Australian birds, and Australian cities.

The name Qantas is an acronym for ?Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.?

Qantas operates flight seeing charters to Antarctica on behalf of Croydon Travel. They first flew Antarctic flight seeing trips in 1977.They were suspended in 1979 due to the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 on Mt Erebus and were restarted in 1994. The flights now require specific polar operations and crew training due to the whiteouts which contributed to the Air New Zealand disaster.

Qantas believes in rewarding customer loyalty, which is the basis of its frequent flyer program. Passengers accrue points based on distance flown, with bonuses that vary by travel class. Points can be earned on both Qantas flights and Oneworld alliance member flights. Qantas has faced criticism regarding availability of seats for members redeeming points, so Qantas overhauled its frequent flyer program in July 2008. The two key new features are Any Seat rewards, in which members can redeem any seat on the plane at a price. The second new feature is Points Plus Pay, where members can use a combination of cash and points to redeem an award.

Qantas was the first airline to allow mobile phone use during flights. Also, the airline provides wireless internet as well as seat-back access to email and web browsing. The Australian carrier also has an extensive in-flight entertainment system. Some planes use Total Entertainment, which is an audio/video on demand system. Other planes use the Mainscreen System, were drop-down video menus offer either recent films or television programs, depending on long the flight is.

Quantas has recently announced a program to offset its carbon emissions. The program encourages passengers to fly carbon-neutral, and allows them to pay for their offsets in either frequent flier points of cash. Qantas donates program proceeds to government-certified carbon offset projects with a Greenhouse Friendly authentication. Professional golfer Greg Norman and Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe are representatives for the program.

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