Qantas has announced a significant upgrade of its narrow-body offering, with an order for 20 Airbus A321XLRs. The big news is that 16 of these aircraft will feature lie-flat Business Class seats, in line with its international offering. That said, the other four of the twenty will be in a more standard domestic and short-haul international configuration.
The order for the A321XLR aircraft forms part of the 737-800 fleet replacement program. While primarily to allow the company to retire ageing aircraft, the larger A321ZLR also provides increased capacity. In addition, the new aircraft allows Qantas to launch a range of routes not possible with the 737.
The new Aircraft
The configuration of the new aircraft will bring benefits to both the Business and Economy cabin. In addition to the lie-flat Business seats, the aircraft will also feature seat back entertainment screens.
Business
Qantas haven’t given away much on just how the Business cabin will be configured. While they will have lie-flat beds, Qantas did not say which seats they would be. Furthermore, there is no indication of the seating layout. One option may be to have one seat each side of the aisle. Another, that some airlines have, is to have alternating rows of one or two seats each side of the aisle. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Economy
The Economy cabin will probably not be hugely different to the Economy cabin already announced. While it retains the same basic layout as the 737, the wider cabin allows for slightly wider seats. Expect the seats to features a leather six-way adjustable headrest and dual USB-A and USB-C charging ports. In addition, it is likely that Economy in these aircraft will see a return of the seat-back displays.
Where will these Aircraft fly?
The long legs of the A321XLR opens up a range of possibilities for the routes they will fly. In particular, the aircraft is able to reach into areas of South East Asia and the Pacific that are not viable with the 737. This opens up the possibility of operating routes that would not sustain the bigger A330 or 787 aircraft.
Qantas hasn’t specifically said where they will operate, but has nominated routes such as
- between Perth and the east coast of Australia,
- existing routes into South East Asia and
- opening up new possibilities like Perth-India and Adelaide-Singapore.
