Qantas vs British Airways
Difference between Qantas and British Airways is an interesting area to look into as both airways belong to the same alliance. Qantas and British Airways are two of the top airlines in the world. While Qantas is the national airline of Australia, British Airways is the largest airline in the UK. Also, British Airways is the flag carrier in UK. British Airways is the founding member of Oneworld alliance with other airlines such as Qantas, American Airlines and Cathay Pacific. After the merger of Iberia, the Spanish national carrier and the American Airlines with British Airways, the alliance is called the International Airlines Group which is the third largest airline alliance.
More about Qantas Airways
Also called The Flying Kangaroo, Qantas has its headquarters in Sydney, with its hub at Sydney Airport. Given a 4 star rating by Skytrax, Qantas got 7th rank among the best airlines of the world in 2010. Qantas is perhaps the oldest continuing airline in the world, operating nonstop since 1920. It was then called Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited, or Qantas in short. Qantas is famous for naming its aircrafts after Greek Gods, stars, people in aviation history and prominent Australian birds. Qantas offers tickets in economy, business /first class categories. Qantas conducts flights to 21 international and 20 domestic destinations.
More about British Airways
British Airways is the largest airline of UK which became private in 1987 after 13 years of being a nationalized company since its inception in 1974. It is headquartered in Waterside near its hub at Heathrow Airport. British Airways also has hubs in Gatwick Airport and London Heathrow Airport. British Airways conducts flights to almost 183 destinations and is among the 9 carriers that fly to all 6 continents of the world that are inhabited. British Airways used to promote itself with the slogan ‘The world’s Favorite Airline’ but had to drop it once Lufthansa overtook it in terms of number of passengers. Now it uses the slogan Upgrade to British Airways.
Though both Qantas and BA provide excellent customer service and are known for their top performance among passengers, both airlines have been facing the heat because of rising fuel costs and sluggish demand. It is common for passengers to book their ticket through British Airways and find themselves flying in a Qantas plane. This the two airlines do to cut down on costs. Instead of both flying with half empty planes, they pack of customers into a single plane to generate profits.
What is the difference between Qantas and British Airways?
• Qantas is the flag carrier of Australia while British Airways is the flag carrier of UK.
• Both airlines have been given four star rating by Skytrax.
• Both belong to the Oneworld Alliance.
• With regard to destinations and fleet British Airways is ahead. It has a fleet of 290 while Qantas only has 130.
• They both provide good facilities for their passengers.
The airlines, which had been bitter rivals, have put forward plans for a possible merger to share the spoils of the skies as they operate on almost same routes. Following merger, they hope to cut down on administrative costs and back office expenditure. So do not be surprised if you get to see a jumping Kangaroo draped in a flag of UK in the near future.