Qantas A330-300 (A330-303 variant) VH-QPI is completing flight QFA82 from Singapore Changi to Sydney. The name assigned to this aircraft is Cairns, after a city in the north of Queensland.

The plane was delivered in November 2005, so it was a little over 9 years old when this shot was taken in 2015. It would be reconfigured in August of that year. As far as I can see it escaped the fate of many aircraft of being taken out of service during the pandemic. The A330 fleet is the oldest of any at Qantas, with an average age of 15.7 years in August of 2022. There are 24 in service, 4 parked and 2 historic, although it's interesting that the majority (18 out of the 28) are -200 series models. They have an average age of 14.4 years. The -300 family has an average age of 18.1 years, so VH-QPI at 16.9 years isn't the oldest... but it's way older than average.

Over 2 years of pandemic shutdowns have of course gutted the bank accounts of airlines. Qantas announced a 1.9 $AUD billion loss earlier this week, so it's a little difficult to just go out and buy some new planes.