Rumours of a Qantas A350 order circulating do not necessarily mean that Qantas is about to order the aircraft. There are suggestions that Qantas may convert remaining A380 orders to A350-900ULR.
There a lot of issues to consider here. The airline does not want to be creating more fleet types than absolutely necessary. The 787-9 is available to Qantas and at very attractive price points as they have options from an initial order back in 2005.
The A380 will be with Qantas until 2030. They own all 12 aircraft and are not on external lease. They will no doubt receive cabin updates and another reconfiguration. Passnegers love the A380 and it will find better route utilisation in future years.
The 787 will most likely replace the A330s if and when Qantas exercises its rights. There was a strategy in place when they ordered 65 Boeing 787s for Qantas mainline and Jetstar plus rights for an additional 50 B787s for growth.
Wait and see how the 787-9 is accepted by customers before anything big eventuates. Alan Joyce is a smart conservative thinker when it comes to making huge capital investment.
The market is still very soft in some areas and one thing Joyce wont do is buy the wrong aircraft that doesn't meet his financial operating aspirations
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