Qantas Plans Airbus A321XLR Business Class Suites… Eventually

Qantas has just made a few passenger experience announcements. I’ve already covered how the airline will introduce new business class suites on upcoming Boeing 787 deliveries, and how the airline will retire Airbus A380s earlier than planned. On top of that, the airline has also unveiled the business class suites it will offer on some upcoming Airbus A321XLR deliveries, a massive improvement over the carrier’s current A321XLR product.

Qantas will fly 16 Airbus A321XLRs with flat bed suites

In total, Qantas has close to 50 Airbus A321XLRs on order. This is the longest range version of the A321, and the primary intent of the plane (at least as Airbus promotes it) is to operate “long and thin” routes.

Qantas is taking an unusual approach with this plane, though, as the airline is taking delivery of the initial batch of A321XLRs in a standard domestic configuration, without seat back entertainment, and it’s essentially using them as Boeing 737 replacements on domestic and short haul international flights.

The good news is that starting in 2028, the airline will take delivery of 16 A321XLRs featuring flat bed business class seats, seat back entertainment throughout the cabin, etc. Those will be more in line with what customers expect from the A321XLR.

Qantas plans to configure these A321XLRs with 16 business class seats, spread across eight rows, in a 1-1 configuration. The seats will be in a herringbone layout, and will be the first narrow body Qantas planes to ever feature flat beds.

Each seat will have a privacy door, a 19″ entertainment monitor, wireless and USB-C charging, and storage for a laptop and personal item. These A321XLRs will also feature fast and free Wi-Fi for all passengers.

Qantas’ new A321XLR business class should look familiar, as the airline opted for the Thompson Aero VantageSOLO seat, which you’ll also find on the Iberia A321XLR, JetBlue A321LR, etc. It remains to be seen if the airline will install a “business class plus” product in the first row or not, as you’ll find on JetBlue.

What will Qantas do with its “premium” A321XLRs?

Qantas’ initial batch of A321XLRs are in a domestic configuration, and are being used on all kinds of high demand domestic routes, like the 737 otherwise would be. But what about the premium A321XLRs joining the fleet in a couple of years? It seems like there are two main plans.

For one, Qantas may very well fly these planes in the major markets between Perth (PER) and the East Coast, including Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MEL). Those routes have historically been operated by a combination of A330s and 737s, and it’s a market where Qantas often elevates its product.

Next, Qantas does in fact plan to use these planes for international expansion. While exact routes haven’t been announced, the below map from a while back about potential A321XLR routes should give us some clues. The primary plan seems to be to use these planes from markets like Adelaide (ADL), Brisbane (BNE), and Perth (PER), to expand to international destinations that otherwise wouldn’t get nonstop flights from those airports.

As you can see, this plane puts lots of routes into play — the airline could fly from Perth to virtually all of Southeast Asia, India, etc., just to give one example. With a fleet of 16 A321XLRs in this configuration, we won’t see a huge number of routes, especially if these planes also operate premium flights across the country. But either way, there are lots of possibilities here.

Bottom line

Qantas has revealed its planned “premium” A321XLR layout. Starting in 2028, the airline will take delivery of 16 A321XLRs with a premium configuration, featuring flat beds in business class, personal entertainment screens throughout the plane, etc.

Qantas’ new A321XLR business class product is exactly what you’d expect, and seems to very much be middle of the pack. Now the big question is which routes this plane will operate.

What do you make of Qantas’ new A321XLR business class suites?