David Eyre 
Taking off from runway 06 at 07:11 as flight QF7334, delivering mail and freight to Melbourne.
This aircraft was originally ordered as a passenger aircraft by Trans Australian Airlines (TAA), which was renamed Australian Airlines. First flown on 23 February 1987 as VH-TAW and delivered in Australian Airlines colours on 13 April 1987, named ““Progress”. Australian Airlines merged with Qantas in 1993, and the aircraft was later painted in Qantas colours. In July 2003, it was transferred to Qantas / Jetconnect, New Zealand, registered ZK-JNH. It operated its final Jetconnect service in October 2005 and was stored at Christchurch, New Zealand for six months. In April 2006, it was flown to Avalon for conversion to freighter configuration, and was registered VH-XMO to Qantas. Conversion was completed in October 2006 and it rolled out in Australian Air Express colours.
Photo © David Eyre
2 October 2012
Qantas today announced that it would take over Australian air Express, by acquiring the remaining 50% of the business from Australia Post.
The joint venture between Qantas and Australia Post was established in 2003, under which each party owned 50% of Australian air Express (air freight business) and 50% of StarTrack (freight forwarding business).
The takeover is subject to approval from the ACCC and Australia Post’s shareholder and is expected by the end of 2012. Qantas expects a net profit from the deal of approximately $30 million.
Qantas Freight currently has a fleet of 13 freighter aircraft including three Boeing 747-400F aircraft (owned and operated by Atlas Air of the USA), one Boeing 767-300F, four Boeing 737-300SF (operated for Australian Air Express), four BAe 146s (operated for Australian Air Express and leased from Cobham) and one Saab 340.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said “Through this acquisition we will be able to offer an integrated air freight product across domestic and international networks.”
“We will continue to have a close commercial relationship with Australia Post and StarTrack remaining major customers of Australian air Express and Qantas Freight,” added Mr Joyce.
