Next-gen Qantas domestic business class under wraps

Qantas hasn’t been shy about showcasing the international Airbus A350 business class suites which will grace its non-stop Project Sunrise flights from Sydney and Melbourne to the likes of London and New York from late 2025, and will also be seen on the Perth-London route when the long-legged A350 takes over from the Boeing 787.

But there’s also a big change coming to domestic business class, with not one but two new Qantas domestic business class seats on the way.

They’ll be launched on the also-new Airbus A220 and A321XLR jets, which in turn will fly not only in domestic skies but on mid-range international routes.

The Airbus A220 and A321XLR will fly overseas as well as within Australia.

So what’s in store for pointy-end passengers in Qantas’ new A220 and A321XLR business class?

Qantas A220 business class

The first new Qantas domestic business class seats to break cover will be that of the Airbus A220, with the first red-tailed A220 due at the end of this year.

The A220 will not only replace the ageing Boeing 717s but will reshape regional, inter-city domestic and even international flying to South-East Asia.

“We talk a lot about the versatility of the A220 when we're pitching it to airlines,” says Connor Buott, Marketing Manager for Airbus’ single-aisle jets such as the A220 and A320 families, speaking exclusively with Executive Traveller following the initial announcement of Qantas’ A220 order.

The Airbus A220-300 has an astounding range, almost double that of the Boeing 717 it will replace.

The Qantas A220 will accommodate 137 passengers, with ten seats in business class and 127 in economy.

The Qantas A220’s ten reclining business class seats will be grouped in two-seat pairs, as is common on most single-aisle jets, which means two rows of 2-2 and a third ‘half-row’ of two seats.

“The business seats, from my understanding, will be staggered,” says Buott, “so you would have three rows on one side and two rows on the other.”

“But Qantas may still continue to tweak their configuration,” he allows, adding “I’ve seen some configurations with staggered business class rows, and others where you use of the extra space on the side that has the smaller number of rows for a galley, wardrobes, things like that.”

An Airbus cabin concept for the A220.

We won’t know exactly how the Qantas A220 business class cabin will be laid out until the airline publishes its official A220-300 seatmap – and at this stage even the seat itself has yet to be revealed.

Airlines buying the A220 can choose between a standard seat supplied and fitted ‘off the rack’ or select a model from any Airbus-approved supplier; Airbus’ go-to business class seat is the Safran model Z600 (shown below).

US airline Breeze opted for a customised Safran Z600 in its sizeable A220 premium cabin – and there’d certainly be no whinging if Qantas installed the wide, comfortable and well-appointed Z600 for its own A220 business class.

Qantas A321XLR business class

A year after the first Qantas A220 lands in Sydney will see the debut of the first Qantas A321XLR in late 2024, taking key domestic and medium-range international routes under its wings as it steadily replaces the workhorse Boeing 737.

With its quiet spacious cabins, modern interior and roomier overhead bins, the Airbus A321XLR will radically reshape the Qantas flying experience – although it seems the advanced jet won’t push that transformative envelope to include lie-flat beds in business class, at least not in the first tranche of deliveries.

Qantas has been relying on its current 737 business class for over a decade, with three rows of those familiar Marc Newson-styled burgundy leather recliners, but CEO Alan Joyce has previously told Executive Traveller the A321XLR “gives us the opportunity to have a step up in new product that you have never seen on narrow bodies in Australia before.”

Qantas says the A321XLR will puts its current Boeing 737 business class in the shade.

Qantas has confirmed its A321XLR will have 20 business class seats and 180 economy seats.

But while there’s been a broad expectation the A321XLRs could sport cutting-edge business class seats that convert into lie-flat beds, given the extra-long range of these modern jets can reach most of south-east Asia, we don’t expect business class beds until perhaps a second tranche of A321XLRs beyond the initial 20 on order.

(Qantas holds ‘purchase right’ options for as many as 94 aircraft and can switch up its orders by opting for variants such as the A321neo or A321LR).

The Airbus A321XLR will become the new workhorse of the Qantas fleet.

Based on Qantas’ A321XLR configuration, there’s simply no way to fit 20 flatbed business class and 180 economy seats into an A321XLR while keeping the same legroom as on the Boeing 737 – and Qantas has already promised there will be “no reduction in space between seats” compared to the Boeing 737.

We feel it’s more likely the initial wave of Qantas A321XLR will be crowned by super-comfortable and well-appointed recliners such as the regional business class of Cathay Pacific’s A321neo...

Cathay Pacific's Airbus A321neo 'regional business class'.

... or a new design such as the Thompson Vantage Duo, which aims for the ‘sweet spot’ between a standard recliner and a lie-flat bed while offsetting the paired seats from one another to give each passenger more privacy and a greater sense of personal space.

Thompson Aero's Vantage Duo design staggers its seats for greater privacy.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Qantas will end up with two versions of the A321XLR: one with business class recliners for domestic routes and short-range overseas routes such as New Zealand, and another with fully lie-flat beds in business class to take on longer international routes to Asia.