History of Qantas Airways

• Qantas was founded in Winton,Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited by Paul McGinness and Hudson Fysh. Fergus McMasterjoined them as Chairman, as did Arthur Baird to take care of aircraft maintenance. McGinness left QANTAS for other interests in 1922, and Hudson Fysh remained with the company as General Manager & Managing Director. He retired as Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC, Chairman of QANTAS in 1966.

• Qantas’s first regular service, between Charleville and Cloncurry, began in 1922; in the following years other local routes were added. In 1934 Qantas and Britain’s Imperial Airways (later BOAC) formed Qantas Empire Airways Limited to operate the Brisbane-Singapore leg of service from Australia to England.

• In 1947 the Australian Commonwealth government purchased Qantas and designated the company Australia’s flag carrier. In the same year, Qantas began regular through service to London on the “Kangaroo Route."

• Within a decade it was flying to all the continents. The name Qantas Airways Limited was adopted in 1967. Qantas acquired Australian Airlines, Ltd., in 1992, thus becoming the country’s largest airline. The following year it was privatized by the Australian government.

• Its first operations were taxi services and pleasure flights. By the early 21st century, however, its scheduled air routes extended throughout Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe and New Zealand. The airline’s headquarters are in Sydney.