It has grown from a small outback carrier to arguably the world’s best international airline.
It was in 16 November 1920 the certificate of incorporation was given under seal at Brisbane for ‘Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd.’ Its initials provided the name QANTAS.
Three founders of Qantas were Paul McGuiness, Fergus McMaster and Hudson Fysh. The first chairman of airline was Fergus McMaster.
It is the second oldest airline in the world, after KLM, the Dutch airline. Qantas also was a long-haul route pioneer and the first airline to introduced Business class in 1979.
Qantas as a pioneer airline in Australia, it grew by internalization in early years. It began to develop an international network from the 1930s onwards.
In 1934, Qantas and Imperial Airways jointly established Qantas Empire Airways Ltd. After the regulation of the Australian airline industry in 1990, the Australian government decided to fully privatize the company in 1992. The privatization was completed in 1995.
In the wake of 9/11, Qantas was one of the few network airlines that remains profitable. The strongest growth in passenger numbers occurred in 2001 driven by the collapse of Ansett Australia.
History of Qantas
