In late 2021, Qantas placed an order for 20 Airbus A220s, and in mid-2023, the airline placed an incremental order for nine more of these jets. Qantas took delivery of its first A220 a couple of months ago, and today the airline has revealed more details about the jet, including pictures of the interiors, plus when we can expect the aircraft to enter service. Let’s go over all the details.
In this post:
Qantas Airbus A220 order & fleet details
Australian flag carrier Qantas is doing quite a bit to refresh its fleet at the moment, including for narrow body and wide body aircraft. The airline currently has the following aircraft on order:
- Qantas has 29 Airbus A220-300s on order, which started to be delivered as of late 2023; this is the largest version of the Airbus A220 family
- Qantas has 28 Airbus A321XLRs on order, which will be delivered starting in early 2025; this is the longest range and largest version of the Airbus A320 family
- Qantas has 24 Airbus A350-1000s on order, which will be delivered starting in mid-2026; these are intended to operate the world’s longest flights, from Sydney and Melbourne to New York and London, and will be used for additional long haul expansion
- Qantas has four more Boeing 787-9s and eight Boeing 787-10s on order, which will be delivered starting in 2027; these are intended to expand the carrier’s long haul fleet and replace A330s
Qantas will be taking delivery of all 29 Airbus A220s between now and 2027, so you can expect nearly one jet to be delivered per month. The plane will be used to refresh the fleet of QantasLink, which is Qantas’ regional subsidiary. Primarily, these planes will replace Boeing 717s, which are currently the backbone of QantasLink’s fleet.
The switch from the 717 to A220 really is a testament to how far aviation has come. The A220 has twice the range of the 717, all while offering a 25% reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions. That’s pretty incredible.
Qantas Airbus A220 passenger experience
Qantas’ Airbus A220-300s will all be configured with 137 seats, including 10 business class seats and 127 economy class seats. Below you can see a seat map of Qantas’ Airbus A220-300s.
While I’ll cover some specific details below, let me first note that the A220 is an absolute joy to fly, given that it has only one middle seat per row, and has a modern cabin with huge windows and large lavatories. Qantas’ A220s will also feature Wi-Fi, which is a nice development, given that it’s something Qantas hasn’t historically been great with offering.
Qantas Airbus A220 business class
Qantas’ A220 business class cabin will consist of 10 seats, in a 2-2 configuration, with 2.5 rows. You can expect the following features:
- 37″ of pitch, with 5″ of recline
- USB-A and USB-C charging, plus wireless charging pads
- A six-way adjustable headrest, a calf rest, and a footrest
- A bottle holder plus an extendable cocktail table
- A tray table with a built-in tablet holder
Qantas Airbus A220 economy class
Qantas’ A220 economy class cabin will consist of 127 seats, in a 2-3 configuration, with 25.5 rows. You can expect the following features:
- 30″ of pitch with 18″ of seat width
- USB-A and USB-C charging
- A six-way adjustable headrest
- A drop down tablet holder
Qantas Airbus A220 routes
Qantas intends to use the Airbus A220 primarily to fly domestically, and also to operate select short haul international routes in the Pacific region.
We can expect Airbus A220s to enter service with Qantas shortly. The airline initially plans to base these aircraft out of Melbourne (MEL). You can initially expect the A220 to fly to both Brisbane (BNE) and Canberra (CBR), as of March 1, 2024.
Subsequent destinations later in 2024 include Hobart (HBA), Coffs Harbour (CFS), and Launceston (LST), but exact schedules for those routes haven’t yet been published.
Bottom line
Qantas has a total of 29 Airbus A220-300s on order, and the airline has started taking delivery of these aircraft. These planes will be flown by QantasLink, with the Airbus A220s replacing the Boeing 717s that Qantas’ regional subsidiary currently primarily uses. We can expect the first A220 to enter passenger service in the coming days.
Qantas has now revealed the full details of the passenger experience on these jets, including what we can expect in both business class and economy. The interiors look quite nice. This is an awesome development for QantasLink, in terms of economics, range, fuel efficiency, and even passenger experience.
What do you make of Qantas’ Airbus A220-300?
Qantas would be really smart if they start tackling regional NZ airports and flew from Sydney using these planes. If they flew to Nelson, New Plymouth or Rotorua from Sydney they could seriously take away Air NZ's strategic monopoly over international flights out of the country. Not only would they offer better connections to the Asia pacific region, but they would also give residents of these towns marginally longer connection time to North America as...
Qantas would be really smart if they start tackling regional NZ airports and flew from Sydney using these planes. If they flew to Nelson, New Plymouth or Rotorua from Sydney they could seriously take away Air NZ's strategic monopoly over international flights out of the country. Not only would they offer better connections to the Asia pacific region, but they would also give residents of these towns marginally longer connection time to North America as well. I think it would really boost Qantas's rep with NZers as most of the country is tired of being milked by Air NZ while would also economically make sense as these planes are very cost effective and these towns have sizeable populations.
I really like the finishes. The current Qantas domestic interiors are okay but rather gloomy and I think the lighter seats in economy are much nicer; I just hope the6 can keep them clean. From what I understand that’s as much to do with the fabric as the colour so hopefully they’ve chosen something stain resistant and easy to clean. It certainly looks much nicer than the 717, IMO.
Somewhat disappointing they haven’t installed...
I really like the finishes. The current Qantas domestic interiors are okay but rather gloomy and I think the lighter seats in economy are much nicer; I just hope the6 can keep them clean. From what I understand that’s as much to do with the fabric as the colour so hopefully they’ve chosen something stain resistant and easy to clean. It certainly looks much nicer than the 717, IMO.
Somewhat disappointing they haven’t installed PTVs but I’ve found their streaming to be fairly solid.
It probably wouldn’t need to worry about economy class seat pitch because it’s Recaro, Maybe my back I need to worry about lol. And hopefully flights with this plane would be under 2.5 hours
Surprised they're running the A220 on Melbourne to Brisbane, thats a busy route and not a QantasLink route. Maybe because they have so many daily flights they will use it for downgrades when they can't fill a 737.
Am I crazy or do these seats seem super comphy (cushany), more than what the regular standard first class seats looks like these days??
For a full-service carrier I think excluding screens was a big mistake. Qantas is the most premium airline domestically and have invested a lot in their onboard entertainment on the entire mainline fleet. This offering is now on par with many low cost carriers. These planes will fly short hops but also transcon flights from regional areas. 5 hours with a phone or a tablet, all those charging cables getting in the way is not...
For a full-service carrier I think excluding screens was a big mistake. Qantas is the most premium airline domestically and have invested a lot in their onboard entertainment on the entire mainline fleet. This offering is now on par with many low cost carriers. These planes will fly short hops but also transcon flights from regional areas. 5 hours with a phone or a tablet, all those charging cables getting in the way is not exactly a premium experience. But the rest of the plane is great. Just wish they followed Air Canada / Delta with a true mainline passenger experience.
I understood these planes were to be used by QantasLink, rather than part of the Qantas mainline fleet.
Would like to see these on the BNE-ADL route currently serviced by ancient Alliance aircraft.
They will be QantasLink. And most of the flights will be 1.5-2.5 hours so a screen won't be that useful.
What really counts in this situation is access to WiFi.
For the Business types, they can do work; for Leisure, seeking entertainment, especially with child in tow.