Qantas Orders More Airbus A321XLRs, Plans Flat Bed Business Class

And the big news which I think was more interesting is the massive profit announced $2.39billion dollars

I'd love to see Qantas boost its Pacific Island route network with this plane. Although these aren't really business destinations, they have the dual benefit of being strong VFR destinations due to the number of islanders living in Australia, and popular holiday destinations for Australian tourists.

There is no airline that dominant in the region

Good to see these on domestic flights for PER. They're not as long as US transcons, but close to it.

I’m confused about the cargo comment. My understanding is that the XLRs have lower cargo capacity, because of the need for more fuel tanks. Can you address that?

This is good. Those 737s are dated af.

@ Tom -- It's a good question, and I have an explanation in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/qantas-airbus-a321xlr/

See the section that starts with "some might wonder, well why not go for the A321LR then?"

It would be great if QF could use this to open routes that are too long for a 737, but there isn't the traffic to support an A330.

Routes that QF currently doesn't serve, which might become economic with a smaller long range jet, include:
- Sydney / Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur
- Perth to Bangkok
- Sydney / Melbourne to Guangzhou
- Brisbane to Hong Kong
- Adelaide to Singapore
- Sydney to Taipei

As one of the world’s safest airlines, Qantas is in great danger of becoming one of the most comfortable too …. Well done Qantas on both counts, we hope to make your acquaintance again before the end of the year.

- Qantas should start working more closely with MH to KUL, instead of pretending they don't exist. They're in the same alliance, FFS.

- BKK could work from Perth, but they'd be up against Thai's 787s on the route. There's lots of money sloshing about in Perth, though, and plenty of pax willing to pay workable fares.

- Cathay has BNE-HKG all sewn up with an A350 twice a day.

- SQ likewise has Adelaide all sewn up with a 787-10 twice a day. Qantas has treated Adelaide and Brisbane like the dumb hick country cousins for so long that their arch competitors have become firmly established there.

- Taipei should be a juicy plum, and I'm not sure why Qantas and EVA aren't interested in throwing some metal at it. EVA does service Brisbane, but Melbourne and Sydney are left to China Airlines, who must be thanking their lucky stars about having the nonstops all to themselves.

Their day to day operational reliability has become a real issue. They're way past their 'best by' date, for sure.

In the southern winter the jetstream can push BNE-PER out to 5hr40 on some days, and SYD-PER out to five hours. For the fares they charge in biz, they should be offering a flat seat on every service.

Great to see lie flat in biz, but having recently flown Etihad on a 321LR in economy for nearly 5 hours, economy on these machines long haul is no fun!
Big queues all flight down back for the only 2 toilets,unlike Qantas, EY had no seat back screens.
Hopefully Qantas will install a mid cabin toilet.
Flew a wide body next sector in Y, much better experience!
I do get that these aircraft will open up new non stop routes, but personally I will avoid them for anything over 4 Hours.

And all of a sudden Perth is becoming the new Sydney for Longhaul QF flights. So long Sydney airways

@Paul
You did NOT fly the A321LR. Absolutely not. You may have flown the older A321 or A320 or the ex Bamboo A321neo but most certainly not the new A321LR.

There are 13.3" 4k personal entertainment screens in economy on that plane. Ben has covered that here. You can even check the the Etihad website. And those planes are currently flying longer routes to Phuket etc.

https://onemileatatime.com/news/etihad-airbus-a321lr-first-business-class/

You either flew a different aircraft or you're lying.

Might explain some of QF's operational reliability issues that their own map (in the article) seems to show Adelaide as Melbourne.

SIN-ADL is not bad at all, but how about also restoring the SIN-CBR "Capital Express" service? Singapore Airlines flew SIN-CBR (then on to WLG) for about 18 months from 2016 to 2018 using a 777-200 on a 4X per week schedule. Then, until COVID, they ran a "triangle trip" (SIN-SYD-CBR-SIN) on a 777-300ER. The 321XLR is a much better fit for SIN-CBR service, and Qantas happens to have great lounges at both ends.

Be interesting if that profit can hold up once the change to payments regulation makes it unviable for most points-earning cards - which drives a significant chunk of Qantas' profit

Be interesting if that profit can hold up once the change to payments regulation makes it unviable for most points-earning cards - which drives a significant chunk of Qantas' profit

In the southern winter the jetstream can push BNE-PER out to 5hr40 on some days, and SYD-PER out to five hours. For the fares they charge in biz, they should be offering a flat seat on every service.

@ Tom -- It's a good question, and I have an explanation in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/qantas-airbus-a321xlr/

See the section that starts with "some might wonder, well why not go for the A321LR then?"

Their day to day operational reliability has become a real issue. They're way past their 'best by' date, for sure.

- Qantas should start working more closely with MH to KUL, instead of pretending they don't exist. They're in the same alliance, FFS.

- BKK could work from Perth, but they'd be up against Thai's 787s on the route. There's lots of money sloshing about in Perth, though, and plenty of pax willing to pay workable fares.

- Cathay has BNE-HKG all sewn up with an A350 twice a day.

- SQ likewise has Adelaide all sewn up with a 787-10 twice a day. Qantas has treated Adelaide and Brisbane like the dumb hick country cousins for so long that their arch competitors have become firmly established there.

- Taipei should be a juicy plum, and I'm not sure why Qantas and EVA aren't interested in throwing some metal at it. EVA does service Brisbane, but Melbourne and Sydney are left to China Airlines, who must be thanking their lucky stars about having the nonstops all to themselves.

@Paul
You did NOT fly the A321LR. Absolutely not. You may have flown the older A321 or A320 or the ex Bamboo A321neo but most certainly not the new A321LR.

There are 13.3" 4k personal entertainment screens in economy on that plane. Ben has covered that here. You can even check the the Etihad website. And those planes are currently flying longer routes to Phuket etc.

https://onemileatatime.com/news/etihad-airbus-a321lr-first-business-class/

You either flew a different aircraft or you're lying.