Qantas Freight has unveiled a specially decorated ‘Santa’s Freight’ aircraft in the lead-up to the Christmas season, but the new look goes beyond purely just feeling the Christmas cheer.
This year, Qantas Freight volumes are expected to be up five per cent compared to 2023 and are likely to exceed 50,000 tonnes of international and domestic freight over the busy festive season.
The company’s freighter fleet will fly approximately 550 additional hours across the domestic network in November and December, or the equivalent of an extra 23 days of 24-hour flying.
The additional operation across the fleet will add around 3000 tonnes of domestic capacity.
Executive Manager of Qantas Freight Igor Kwiatkowski says the holiday period is a crucial time for freight operations.
“While Santa and his elves have been preparing to fly gifts for kids around the world, Qantas Freight has been busy getting our fleet of freight sleighs ready for the Christmas peak,” Kwiatkowski says.
“We’ll be spending the next few weeks flying gifts, cards and perishables like mangoes and prawns across the country and the world, and we’re delighted to play this important role for what is a really special time for families.”
In the busiest days leading up to Christmas, Qantas Freight expects its global network to carry up to 1M kilograms of cargo per day – roughly 70 per cent more than its usual daily uplift.
The company carries cargo around the world with five international freighters and in aircraft belly space across the Qantas and Jetstar networks, while it also operates 20 domestic freighters, including a core fleet of 12 dedicated freighters for Australia Post.
It will operate 16 dedicated freighters for Australia Post across this Christmas period.
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