Qantas wins project management award

Qantas has been awarded NSW Project of the Year by the Australian Institute of Project Management for the airline's Airbus A330 aircraft program.

Qantas General Manager Project and Vendor Management Rob Sharp said the award recognised excellence and professionalism in project management.

"We are delighted to be recognised for the project's achievements, which are attributable to the highly focused and committed team that has worked together to deliver the program," he said.

Phase One of the A330 aircraft program was conducted over a two-year period ahead of the aircraft type's introduction to the Qantas fleet.

"The scale of the program was enormous as the A330 was the first new aircraft type to be introduced to Qantas since the Qantas Longreach series Boeing 747-400 was delivered in 1989," Mr Sharp said.

A wide range of product, infrastructure, systems and processes needed to be defined across multiple divisions, project teams and external vendors," Mr Sharp said.

"This program was also used as a catalyst for a major transformation within Qantas' operations, including the introduction of new technology and new business processes.

"The program was delivered on time and under budget at a time of unprecedented change within the aviation industry, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the collapse of Ansett."

Four A330 aircraft have already been delivered to Qantas with an additional nine scheduled for delivery from mid-2004.