Qantas was founded in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited[1] by Paul McGinness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. The airline's first aircraft was an Avro 504K purchased for £1425. The aircraft had a cruising speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 mph) and carried one pilot and two passengers.[2] On 2 November 1922, eighty-four-year-old outback pioneer Alexander Kennedy became the first passenger, receiving ticket number one for a flight from Longreach to Cloncurry.[3] The airline operated air mail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in western Queensland.
Between 1926 and 1928, Qantas built seven de Havilland DH.50s and a single DH.9 under licence in its Longreach hangar.[4] In 1928 a chartered Qantas aircraft made the inaugural flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, departing from Cloncurry.[5]