Qantas Retires Aircraft Type

Qantas has said farewell to an aircraft, retiring the Q300, which operated with regional division QantasLink.

The regional division and broader group have had a long history, spanning some 25 years in service, helping connect townships with capital cities across the country.

VH-SBV was given the honour of operating the final flight with QantasLink, departing on Friday, August 8, 2025, from Tamworth through to Sydney as QF2003.

The aircraft, which flew the final service, operated nearly 40,000 flights across its history and carried well over a million passengers throughout the country during its time in the fleet.

For not just customers but employees who were fortunate enough to work on the Q300, the aircraft family offers many landmark moments and memories that’ll last a lifetime.

Regional connectivity remains a vital pillar of any country’s passenger route network, but it’s also not something that should be taken for granted.

The Q300 has, therefore, thanks to Qantas, been able to reach many regional communities that may have lacked service in the past, enabling travel for personal reasons and work.

The depature of the Q300, while a sad day and the turning of the page also brings on a new era for the broader Qantas Group as the regional division turns towards the Dash-8 Q400 fleet for future flying requirements.

This model has been present for a long time in the airline industry. Still, it ultimately comes with a larger capacity, can operate flights faster than previous models, and means there’s less fleet complexity.

Ultimately, the goal is to remove the Q300S to pave the way for a new chapter in turboprop operations that ensures simplicity with the Q400S, ensuring greater reliability and reducing emissions, which means regional points will continue to get the connectivity they deserve.

Qantas’ Journey With The Aircraft

For Tamworth specifically, this location has a rich history with Qantas, forming an integral part of regional connectivity for decades, even with Eastern Airlines, being the birthplace.

As a result, for Qantas, when organising the final flight, this was always to be the preferred destination to operate from, given the rich history.

Later to be acquired by Qantas and fueled by the expansion of the Dash 8 network, more cities began to be added to the regional network, with further regional operators such as Sunstate Airlines being integrated into the Australian flag-carrier’s group.

By January 2000, the company became the launch operator of the Q300, and one year later, the regional brand of QantasLink was created after much internal discussion, putting an end to the aforementioned individual brandings such as Sunstate Airlines.

The fleet was also similarly brought together, and there has been a sizeable reliance on types such as the Q300 and the generalised Dash 8 family flying around the country daily.