Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) has retired its last B717-200 from commercial operations, bringing an end to more than two decades of service since the type joined the airline in 2001.
VH-YQS (msn 55178) operated QantasLink's Flight QF1511 from Sydney Kingsford Smith to Canberra on October 26, 2024, following flights earlier in the day between Sydney and Launceston. The aircraft has performed 15,000 flights and has racked up a total of nearly 17,000 hours, the airline said.
Along with sister VH-YQW (msn 55194), the B717 was the last of two being operated for Qantas by subsidiary Cobham Aviation Services Australia - Airline Services (QJE, Adelaide International). Powered by Rolls-Royce Deutschland BR700 engines, it was first delivered to Midwest Airlines in February 2004, and was subsequently one of twenty B717s that were ultimately operated by Cobham Aviation Services on behalf of QantasLink.
The type first entered service in Australia with Impulse Airlines in 2000. Following rebranding as Jetstar Airways in 2004, the Qantas subsidiary operated fourteen B717s. As Jetstar took delivery of A320-200s, the B717s came back under the QantasLink umbrella.
The type has become a rare sight in Australian skies as Cobham Aviation Services takes delivery of A220-300s, the first of which arrived in December 2023. The operator is due to receive twenty-nine A220-300s which will be deployed on regional routes around Australia under the QantasLink brand.
The end of B717 operations in Australia means the type remains in service with just two operators. Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has ninety B717s, of which 27 are currently inactive, according to the ch-aviation fleets module, while Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu) operates nineteen B717s of which three are inactive.
