Qantas Expands A321XLR Order With Lie-Flat Business
Qantas has ordered more A321XLR jets, with plans for improved seating.
After reporting a whopping 28% increase in net profit to $1.61 billion in the last financial year, Qantas has decided it’s time to order some more planes. They’re an exciting purchase too, with lie-flat seating in Business Class finally confirmed for Qantas’ incoming narrowbody aircraft.
The announced order is for a further 20 Airbus A321XLR jets, adding to those already ordered, for a new total of 48 XLR’s bound for the Qantas fleet. The expanded order will see 16 Qantas XLR’s configured to suit longer routes, including transcontinental services to and from Perth, and short and medium-haul international routes.
These aircraft will add entertainment screens to both Economy and Business, but the huge news is the addition of lie-flat seats in Business Class. This has been rumoured for quite some time, so it’s great to see Qantas confirm that a competitive product will be found on its longer A321 flights. Worldwide, most premium carriers are configuring their A321XLR fleet with lie-flat Business on every jet.
Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group CEO, earmarked the expanded A321XLR order as a significant step in the Group’s fleet renewal program.
“Investing in new aircraft is one of the most significant ways that we can provide our customers with a better flying experience… the lie-flat Business seats, seatback screens and fast and free Wi-Fi will provide a consistent premium experience for our customers,”
“All of the next generation aircraft joining our fleet benefit from longer range, more comfort, less noise, better economics and will improve how people travel around Australia and overseas,” Ms Hudson added.
According to data from Planespotters.net, Qantas has received just one new aircraft since 2023. Although regional arm QantasLink has been receiving a steady stream of factory-fresh Airbus A220-300 aircraft, although only 7 have been delivered to date, where the airline has already retired the 20 Boeing 717-200 they will replace.
Qantas’ first A321XLR has already arrived in Australia, configured for domestic and short-haul international flying. The jet is expected to start operating commercial flights in mid-September, making Qantas the first airline in the Asia Pacific to operate the aircraft type. It will initially operate on Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-Perth and be progressively rolled out on other routes. By the end of this financial year Qantas will have seven of the aircraft type.
Notably, the airline’s first three A321XLR’s squeeze in an extra three Economy seats, bringing the total capacity to 200 passengers. This is achieved by removing one of the bathrooms, so for 180 Economy passengers, there are now just two toilets. On a five-hour flight like the planned Sydney-Perth, those two toilets could provide 3 minutes 20 seconds per passenger. That assumes perfect efficiency with no time allocated for takeoff or landing, conditions that don’t exist in reality.
The extended range of up to 8,700 kilometres is more than 3,000 kilometres further than the Boeing 737 it replaces, and will enable Qantas to launch direct flights to destinations across South East Asia and the Pacific Islands that are not currently viable.
