Qantas' Great Barrier Reef arrives in Brisbane

On Sunday my family and I returned to our second home, the Brisbane Airport, to watch the arrival of the 7th Qantas Airbus A321-271NY (XLR). This one had a special livery featuring Great Barrier Reef decals, and we were eager to be among the first to see it.

QANTAS AIRBUS A321-271NY (XLR) VH-OGG (MSN 12853)

Qantas now have 7 out of the 28 Airbus A321-271NY (XLR) ordered.

Registration        Name                        Delivery                    

VH-OGA     Great Ocean Road     Delivered 1st of July 2025
VH-OGB     Outback Way             Delivered 24th of August 2025,        
VH-OGC     Seven Peaks Walk     Delivered 5th of December 2025
VH-OGD     Bibbulmun Track       Delivered 22nd February 2026
VH-OGE     Murray River              Delivered 17th of April 2026 
VH-OGF     Red Centre                 Delivered 1st of May 2026
VH-OGG     Coral Sea                   Delivered 14th of June 2026

Qantas has ordered 28 A321XLRs for the mainline Qantas fleet to replace Boeing 737s.
Jetstar will receive a further 12 A321XLRs.

The registrations, VH-OGA, OGB, OGC, etc. were once used by Qantas' Boeing 767 fleet. 

VH-OGA was delivered in September 1988.

The final passenger Boeing 767-300ER in Qantas service was VH-OGL on the 27th of December 2014, it operated flight: QF767 from Melbourne → Sydney and was named City of Wangaratta.

The Boeing 767 played a major role in Qantas history, bridging the gap between the airline’s large 747s and later A330s for nearly four decades. 

It is ironic that the original 767, VH-OGG, featured a special Pixar movie Planes livery, and now the new version of the OGG is also adorned with a special livery.

The A321XLR is expected to become the backbone of Qantas' domestic fleet, gradually replacing the ageing Boeing 737-800 fleet.

Qantas is the first airline in the Asia-Pacific region to operate the A321XLR.

A best way to frame the story is that the A321XLR marks the most significant upgrade to Qantas’ domestic fleet since the Boeing 737 joined in the 1980s, offering transcontinental range along with much better fuel and enhanced passenger comfort.

Air Canada pilot caught flying without correct license

Air Canada has addressed a monetary penalty imposed by Transport Canada on a former pilot who had been operating as a captain without holding the correct type of license.

AIR CANADA BOEING 787-9 C-FGDT (MSN 37171)

The airline said that the pilot, who had been promoted to captain, held a valid Commercial Pilots License and was fully trained, but did not hold an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), which is the certification required by Canadian regulations for captains of large aircraft operated by airlines. An ATPL is obtained by passing a series of written exams beyond what a commercial license requires.

Air Canada said it removed the pilot from active duty immediately upon discovering the issue and voluntarily reported the matter to Transport Canada. The former pilot is no longer employed by the airline, and an active criminal investigation is underway.

The airline also said it conducted an audit of its entire pilot group following the discovery and found no other instances of non-compliance. It has since reinforced its administrative practices around verifying pilot licenses, including physically checking original documents issued by Transport Canada.

Air Canada stressed that safety was not compromised during the 12-month period the pilot was flying as captain. The airline pointed to its mandatory recurrent training program, which requires all pilots to validate their flying competency every six months, along with a flight check conducted by a certified Transport Canada check pilot every 12 months.

“Throughout his employment with Air Canada, the individual in question was a fully trained pilot who held a valid Commercial Pilot License, and he successfully met or exceeded the required recurrent training, demonstrating a high level of competency to safely operate large aircraft,” the airline said.

At the same time, Air Canada acknowledged that proper licensing is a critical layer in the aviation industry’s approach to safety. 

According to Transport Canada, there were 18 offences in 2025 in Ontario related to operating a flight without holding the appropriate permit, with fines totaling CAD 67,500 (US $49,000 - AU $69,065). 

Plane spotting from the Brisbane Airport IBIS Hotel room (Part One)

A few days ago, I mentioned that my family and I attended the OPN 50,000 subscribers’ party on the top floor of the IBIS Hotel at Brisbane Airport. We decided to stay the night, but unfortunately, the roof access was closed except for events and guests buying the plane-spotting package. This meant we had to take photos from our room, which had double-glazed, soundproof windows. Once the function began, I took my camera upstairs and managed to snap a few shots from there as well at night.

QANTAS AIRBUS A321-271NX VH-OGB (MSN 12427)
QF528 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 1 YEAR

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHP (MSN 436)
SQ236 OFF TO SINGAPORE (SIN) 5 YEARS

QANTASLINK EMBRAER E190AR VH-UYF (MSN 19000038)
QLK1804 COMING IN FROM CANBERRA (CBR) 20 YEARS

AIR NIUGINI BOEING 767-383 P2-PXW (MSN 25365)
PX4 OFF TO PORT MORESBY (POM) 34 YEARS

ALLIANCE AIRLINES FOKKER 70 VH-JFE (MSN 11545)
VA1265 OFF TO EMERALD (EMD) 30 YEARS
FLYING FOR VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

ALLIANCE AIRLINES EMBRAER E190AR VH-A2T (MSN 19000179)
BEING TOWED OFF THE BAY

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-VZM (MSN 34192)
QF618 ARRIVING FROM MELBOURNE (MEL)15 YEARS

ALLIANCE AIRLINES FOKKER 70 VH-NUU (MSN 11532)
QQ2835 ARRIVING FROM MORANBAH (MOV) 31 YEARS

LINK AIRWAYS FAIRCHILD METRO 23 VH-VEU (MSN DC-797B)
LR7714 ARRIVING FROM NARRABRI (NAA) 34 YEARS

QUEENSLAND POLICE BEECH KING AIR 360 VH-8TT (MSN FL-1293)

TEAM GLOBAL EXPRESS BOEING 737-8BK ZK-TXB (MSN 29644)
TFX51 ARRIVING FROM DARWIN (DRW) 19 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737- MAX 8 VH-8VE (MSN 67041)
VA1398 OFF TO ADELAIDE (ADL) 1 YEAR

BACK - QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBC (MSN 506) OLD FONT
FRONT - QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBR (MSN 1251) NEW FONT

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHJ (MSN 328)
SQ265 ARRIVING FROM SINGAPORE (SIN) 6 YEARS

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8SA (MSN 44224)
VA962 OFF TO SYDNEY (SYD) 11 YEARS

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYQ (MSN12020)
JQ59 OFF TO DENPASAR (DPS) 2 YEARS

QATAR AIRWAYS AIRBUS A350-1041 A7-ANR (MSN 399)
QR898 ARRIVING FROM DOHA (DOH) 6 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBA (MSN 508)
QF536 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY (SYD) 23 YEARS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHJ (MSN 328)
SQ266 DEPARTING FOR SINGAPORE (SIN) 6 YEARS

GATEWAY TOLL BRIDGE

JETSTAR AIRBUS A321-251NX VH-OYV (MSN 12159)
JQ964 OFF TO PERTH (PER) 1 YEAR

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-842 A6-EVM (MSN 264)
EK435 OFF TO DUBAI (DXB) 6 YEARS

QANTASLINK AIRBUS A220-300 VH-X4A (MSN 55253)
QLK1284 ARRIVING FROM ADELAIDE (ADL) 2 YEARS

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-202 VH-EBR (MSN 1251)
QF15 OF TO LOA ANGELES (LAX) 14 YEARS

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRBUS A350-941 B-LQG (MSN 615)
CX157 ARRIVING FROM HONG KONG (HKG) 3 YEARS

QANTAS BOEING 737-838 VH-XZG (MSN 39371)