Qantas brings lie-flat business class to Sydney-Bali

Bali remains one of Australia’s top overseas destinations for holiday-makers, especially for getaways to relaxed luxury resorts – and you can once again fly there in real  business class.

Beginning this Sunday, October 29, Qantas is switching the Sydney-Bali route (flights QF43/QF44) from a Boeing 737 to the better-appointed Airbus A330.

With that comes a far superior business class experience – one anchored by a true international-grade business class seat rather than the domestic recliners of the 737.

The best way to start and finish your Bali getaway.

For starters, the A330’s Business Suites – an evolved version of which graces the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 – offer direct aisle access and greater personal space for every passenger.

You’ll also enjoy a higher level of creature comforts such as AC/USB power and several storage nooks. And we’re big fans of the option to place the seat into a reclined mode that’s approved for the taxi, take-off and landing stages of the flight, rather than having to sit bolt-upright.

The Qantas A330 Business Suites include a reclined mode for taxi, take-off and landing.

Most importantly for the overnight leg of the QF44 Bali-Sydney flight, the seat converts to a fully lie-flat bed.

You can’t count a lot of sheep on that relatively short six-hour jaunt, even if you skip supper after the 10pm departure from Denpasar and avoid being woken by the breakfast clatter ahead of the 7am arrival into Sydney, but the A330 flat bed versus the 737 recliner? There’s simply no contest.

These fully lie-flat beds will be welcome on the overnight flight from Bali to Sydney.

And with almost three times as many business class berths on the A330 compared to the 737, this should not only help bring airfares down but also free up more reward seats to book with Qantas Points.

(The standing rate for a Classic Flight Reward seat on the Sydney-Bali route is 114,000 points in business class return, with 40,600 points for economy return.)

A quick check at the time of writing shows one-way Qantas A330 fares from Sydney to Bali in late November 2023 starting from $1,540 in business.

The Airbus A330 has almost three times the number of business class seats as the Boeing 737.

No doubt Qantas also hopes moving to the big twin-aisle A330 will give it an edge over rival Virgin Australia, which counts only Boeing 737s in its fleet.

As previously reported, Qantas now offers free international WiFi on those portions of the Sydney-Bali flight which are over Australia and within the footprint of the Sky Muster satellite which powers the Qantas WiFi service.

However, this depends on the Sydney-Bali A330 being drawn from the WiFi-equipped domestic fleet of A330-200s, not the international A330-300 variant – and at the time of writing it’s not known which version of the A330 will be Bali-bound.

As previously reported, Qantas is also shaking things up on its Sydney-Singapore and Sydney-Bangkok flights with the introduction of a unique non-reclining business class seat.

Finnair's radical non-reclining AirLounge business class.

This is the AirLounge business class from Finnair, and it will feature on a pair of Finnair A330s which Qantas is leasing from its Oneworld partner to replace its own red-tailed A330s on those routes.

It’s a spacious, private and well-appointed cocoon designed more like an over-sized sofa wrapped in a contoured shell where passengers find their own comfort zone, from sitting to sprawling.

Finnair's radical non-reclining AirLounge business class.

When it’s time to sleep, panels swings up between the seat and ottoman to create a continuous space which becomes your fully-flat bed, dressed by a mattress and duvet.

Finnair's radical non-reclining AirLounge business class.

Read more: Introducing the new Qantas business class seat which doesn’t recline