SYDNEY: Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday announced a deal to buy 40 Airbus aircraft, to renew its domestic fleet.

The purchase, which is expected to be finalised at the end of the next financial year, is for 20 long-range A321XLRs and 20 A220s.

"Financial details of the deal are commercial in confidence but represent a material discount from list prices," Qantas said.

The order is a blow to US planemaker Boeing, which currently supplies much of Qantas' domestic fleet.

The Australian firm has been battered by the Covid-19 crisis, which has seen Australia's borders closed for much of the last two years.

The company on Thursday also announced it was about US$4 billion in debt, but expected domestic capacity to return to pre-Covid levels by March 2022.