Qantas will close Avalon base

Qantas has confirmed it will close the Avalon heavy maintenance facility given that the 747 fleet is almost now gone, at the end of March 2014. Some 300 jobs will be lost. Qantas has stated that it will try to redeploy its staff or offer generous redundancy packages. The airline will maintain its aircraft at its Brisbane heavy maintenance facility with line maintenance being conducted at 19 ports around Australia including Melbourne.