Qantas' new A350 first class suites pair a separate seat and bed, but early photos suggest both may be cramped despite the spacious cabin layout.
Fair call. With a proper mattress pad, any reclined seat can be turned into a proper bed. You wonder why they didn't go with a wide seat to a wide bed, not the narrow seat and narrow bed.
I am certain Qantas will make a big announcement closer to launch that the first class seat lays completely flat and they will have a huge mattress pad to create the biggest (or nearly?) bed in the sky. I could be wrong but knowing QF they've kept a few aspects of the onboard product secret in order to grab headlines down the track.
@ JK -- Yeah, there's absolutely no way that the seat would become part of the bed, that's just not how this product is designed. The airline even explicitly states it's a reclining seat, and not a bed.
But why cant the seat be reclined fully with a mattress pad over the top? All you would need to do it lower one armrest? Surely the product isn't that inflexible?
@ chris w -- I didn't design the seat, so I can't speak as to why. :p But Qantas is explicit that it's simply a reclining armchair, and if it actually did become part of the bed, the airline would've certainly revealed that by now.
That seat must lay flat to make the bed bigger? Otherwise this will be the worst F failure in a long time 😁
Too bad Qantas didn't hire you to design the new seat, @Ben. Otherwise they would have a good product now, instead of a partially reclining 'F' seat and a flat surface next to it (Btw, LH called and want them back for Allegris FOX 2) 😀
22 inches of width is only 4 inches more than Singapore economy, so yes definitely tight. The fact that they boast about the length of the bed without mentioning the width does indeed suggest it's not impressive and they hope you won't notice!
22 inches is actually a fairly generous seat size for F. BA's first class seats on the a380 and the 777 are 22". Emirates A380 F seat is 23", and it reclines into a bed. Any wider, unless you are very large of course, and it starts to become less ergonomic - you have to splay your arms out to reach the armrest!
For this uniquely long route, the best comparison is SQ’s A359ULR, which didn’t opt for First or Economy, just Business and Premium (recliners).
QF’s 4-class 35K will have these first suites, business (lie-flat), premium (recliners), and regular economy (talk about grueling, even in the extra legroom seats) for 20+ hours.
Regardless of seat or bed width, the additional privacy and comfort of this first class suite would be a real treat, compared to any other option on-board.
Is it better than QF First on a380? I recall Ben (and his dad) reviewed it in 2025; that product seems far less private, even if wider seat, and no separate bed.
Could QF have copied ME carriers or JL/NH? Yeah, but, I kinda like that they’re trying their own thing, here. Guess we’ll have to wait until at least mid-2028 to find out for sure.
SQ is planning on retrofitting some of the A350-900 ULRs with a first class (four seats in a 1-2-1 config., no confirmed introduction date yet), so at some point (sooner than later, one hopes) we'll be seeing those on the SIN-JFK/EWR flights.
Isn't the seat going to recline fully flat along the bed?! :O
This is what I thought also. If you fully recline the seat, it will be a good sized bed.
Not a hot take. Qantas is overpriced and underwhelming in every class of service.
The concept also reminds me of Lufthansa’s old 747-400 First Class, where each passenger had a separate seat and permanent bed. That always looked wonderfully indulgent, but Lufthansa ultimately moved away from it. I’m curious whether Qantas has perfected the idea, or rediscovered why dedicating space to two pieces of furniture can leave neither quite as generous as you’d expect. For such a flight I suspect you are correct that the JAL A350 first class concept would work far better than this seat/bed concept, especially with the high walls which look like they are creating a claustrophobic sensation rather than a “room“.
I’m assuming the bed is made when you board. Weird to sit next to that the entire flight when you’re not sleeping. Nightmare if you spill your drink or food onto it, which will be all too common. QF F gets an F.
They should have gone with the seat JAL used for their new first class.
Doesn't look too bad with 1-1-1 arrangement. Air France is 1-2-1 with seat and bed overlapping. What about when you close the curtain in AF - does the curtain bow out? The bed is likely longer on QF - the AF bed might be too short for taller people. QF gives you full leg room. On some of the others - you can't extend you legs out like Etihad. I would take the full leg room and longer bed that QF has.
@ Randy -- The Air France bed is 79" long, so it's one inch shorter. I think that should be plenty big for 99.999% of passengers.
"What about when you close the curtain in AF - does the curtain bow out?"
On the new AF LP, it does not bow out, but it does move out a bit when a FA walks by somewhat briskly - it's the air wake that causes that to happen. It's something visible, but not *too* distracting or anything, and only noticeable (for me) in bed mode while I'm awake watching TV.
Lufthansa used to have similar seating on their b744
I think Ben did review before
https://onemileatatime.com/review-lufthansa-first-class-747-400-vancouver-frankfurt/
I liked the previous generations of first class suites – just a huge seat that doubled as the bed, a giant monitor, and maybe some doors. OZ, EK, TG, LH, SQ and so on
Looks a bit like a medical facility or a middle school nurse’s room.
Qantas A350 = first class for ants!
These aircraft will be used on the ULH flights to London and NYC, but also on shorter flights?
On the longer flights, I can understand the advantage of having both a seat and a bed that you can hop between. Although I think it would be better if the armrest between the seat and the bed could be lowered.
But I do think this configuration will be sub optimal on the standard LH flights. I presume they will be used for destinations such as HKG / HND / NRT.
@ David -- The first six will be used primarily for Project Sunrise flights, while the others will be used to eventually replace some of Qantas' most premium ultra long haul routes, so don't be surprised to eventually see these planes flying to DFW, LAX, etc. Maybe they'll sometimes fly to AKL between longer turns, but don't expect much of that service, aside from initial crew familiarization.
I thought, by the 2030s, QF said it plans to have just the 35K and 787 for wide-body, long-haul. *teary-eyed, waving goodbye at a380, a330*
QF medium-haul going to be more of a a321XLR-strategy with lie-flat up-front, expected to enter service starting 2028 (they are starting with mere recliners on BNE-MNL in 2027.)
Although the bed and seat look a bit narrow, they look narrow on Etihad and Singapore too. I do like the separate bed concept. Sleeping on a seat where people have their butts, fart and sweat doesn't seem first class imo yet people do it everyday. Coupled with the fact that those seats are rarely cleaned between passengers.
And, it looks like if those of us shorter than 80" try to move down the bed to avoid the narrowing at the top, the "bed belt" ends up in a lousy position.
I hate to say it but I agree. I’m not a fan of the separate seat and bed where it means both are narrow. I haven’t flown AF new La Premiere yet but the seat just seems small.
I also wonder why the monitor is so small with these seats. Surely they could have had an ultra-wide monitor like JL?
@ Alonzo -- Hah, to each their own, but a) there's a mattress pad, which should address that and b) do people not fart and sweat in the beds, or how does that only happen in the seats?