By the time Qantas’ Airbus A330s trundle off to the bone yard, the oldest will have been flying for almost a quarter of a century. While the airline will be spruiking the delivery of its new Airbus A321neo aircraft come March, it won’t have a replacement for its oldest planes until at least 2027.

The undeniable fact is that the average age of Qantas’ fleet has blown out to almost 16 years, 40 per cent higher than it was when Alan Joyce took over as chief executive in 2008. And old planes take time and plenty of effort to maintain. As fliers caught in a crunch late last year found out, these issues can add up to long delays and cancellations if things go wrong.