Qantas has today announced plans for an all-new business class seat for its Dreamliners, though it’s not the best business class seat that the oneworld carrier has in store for us. Separately, I’ve covered how the airline will introduce new business class suites on Airbus A321XLR deliveries, and how the airline will retire Airbus A380s earlier than planned.
In this post:
New Qantas 787 business class seats coming soon(ish)
Qantas plans to introduce new business class suites on the Boeing 787-9s that it has on order, which are expected to be delivered as of FY2028 (which runs from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2028).
For context, Qantas currently has a fleet of 14 Dreamliners, each featuring 42 business class seats, in a staggered configuration. When this new product is introduced, the cabin will maintain 42 seats, and will still be in a staggered configuration.
That being said, the seats will get significant upgrades, including a sliding privacy door. The updated seats will feature 80″ lie flat beds, including a wider footwell, plus a 19″ entertainment screen, and a restyled personal storage space.
That’s all the airline has revealed as of now, and there’s no indication of existing Dreamliners being retrofitted with the new cabins. Now, that’s not to say it won’t happen eventually, but it definitely sounds like that won’t be happening any time soon.
In terms of the order book, Qantas currently has four Boeing 787-9s and 10 787-10s on order. The press release only explicitly mentions the 787-9 variant getting the new business class suites, so we’ll see how this all plays out (it would be very strange to introduce a third type of 787 business class seat).
While the seating manufacturer isn’t disclosed, this sure looks to me like it’s based on the Thompson Aero Vantage XL platform, which is exactly the same platform that Qantas currently uses on its Dreamliners. However, other than the general layout, everything about this product looks upgraded.
This is an improvement, not as good as the new A350 seat
While it’s nice to see Qantas upgrading its Boeing 787 business class, it’s worth noting that the carrier’s upcoming 24 Airbus A350-1000s will feature different seats in business class, which I’d argue are superior.
For that plane, the airline selected the Safran Unity platform, which is also a staggered business class seat with a door. I do think the Safran Unity seat is materially better than the Thompson Aero Vantage XL seat, though both are ultimately still comfortable.
While the Safran Unity seat is ideal for the A350 (based on the cabin width), it can also be installed on the 787, as it’s what Riyadh Air is offering on its Dreamliners.
My guess is that Qantas ultimately ended up going with the same platform it currently has (just updated) so that it can maintain exactly the same seat count. That will make it quite easy operationally if the airline has to swap planes around, since we don’t know if any existing planes will be retrofitted.
For that matter, if Qantas is just going to install the new seats on a handful of 787s, there’s inefficiency to introducing a new seating platform for that.
Bottom line
Qantas plans to introduce new business class suites on its upcoming Boeing 787 deliveries. The suites will boast privacy doors, 19″ TVs, larger footwells, and more. Expect this to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, since it seems like Qantas is sticking to the same Thompson Aero Vantage XL platform it currently uses.
What do you make of Qantas’ new 787 business class plans?
I actually prefer these seats compared to the angled lie flat seats.
I don't think this is the vantage xl modified, looks very close to the updated Recaro R7 seat design
Looks quite nice in that color combo. Not all too different from D1 on their a350. Have a trip booked with QF on their older 787. Oh well. Looking forward to whenever they start JFK-SYD nonstop. Project Sunrise! (They say... starting 2027... we'll see about that...)
19" screens in a modern J in 2026 is pathetic, especially in a staggered config where you can fit very large 24" screens.
There are pros and cons.. To fit 24" screen in a staggered seat, the monitor should be positioned "behind" the seatback.
A 19" screen can be positioned in line with the seatback in front.
It makes a few inches of difference in living space. It's nice to have a bigger screen, but it should be a few inches closer to you than the 19" one.
I'd rather have more room than a big screen.
Not necessarily. For example, look at Aeroflot/AI/TK A350 seats with 21" screens and still behind the seat back. For Vantage XL, the screen can basically go much bigger and modern screens are very thin without requiring big heat vents.
It depends on the platform. Aeroflot/AI/TK A350 has Collins Horizon seat which is basically designed to accommodate big screens from the beginning. The backshell is completely flat like Safran Unity for this reason.
Thompson Vantage XL has 2 options - flat backshell like current Delta One, or the baseline that has the screen positioned slightly "forward of" the backshell like Qantas.
When the backshell is completely flat, there's practically no limitation in screen size. The...
It depends on the platform. Aeroflot/AI/TK A350 has Collins Horizon seat which is basically designed to accommodate big screens from the beginning. The backshell is completely flat like Safran Unity for this reason.
Thompson Vantage XL has 2 options - flat backshell like current Delta One, or the baseline that has the screen positioned slightly "forward of" the backshell like Qantas.
When the backshell is completely flat, there's practically no limitation in screen size. The whole backshell can be filled with a screen like a latest Mercedes dashboard. But the flat backshell does eat up the living space. It also means more portion of you body will be in the coffin in bed mode.
But when the screen's positioned forward like Qantas, its width is limited by the seatback in front.
Maybe it can go up to 20", but IFE manufacturers don't offer the screens in every inch. It's like 17", 19", 22", etc. Thales has 20" and 24" but Panasonic doesn't. They have 22" and 27" instead. Each IFE supplier offer different sizes.
I don't know which IFE Qantas selected, but it could be the largest to fit in their configuration and from their supplier.
Ben, I think you really should try the non-JAL Safran Unity seat. It seems you got the great impression of it from your JAL A35K flight, but the Unity seat on JAL is so heavily customized that it's practically a different product.
The Unity on JAL is pitched at 51", and the shell height's also raised than the standard offering.
Standard Safran Unity is pitched at 45"(6" is a huge difference!), and the shell's...
Ben, I think you really should try the non-JAL Safran Unity seat. It seems you got the great impression of it from your JAL A35K flight, but the Unity seat on JAL is so heavily customized that it's practically a different product.
The Unity on JAL is pitched at 51", and the shell height's also raised than the standard offering.
Standard Safran Unity is pitched at 45"(6" is a huge difference!), and the shell's significantly lower than JAL's.
Riyadh Air has the Unity seat in the standard dimensions, and so will Qantas' Project Sunrise.
The Thompson Vantage XL seat is not very different from the "standard" Unity in terms of the dimensions, and Thompson will feel more spacious because the monitor's positioned a few inches more forward.
I once had a chance to try the standard Unity mockup, and it felt way more cramped than competitors. The monitor was positioned closer to the passenger(in order to fit a bigger one like 24"), and the backrest had quite a large gap from the backshell, which was an inefficient use of space.
I am baffled how no one else other than Korean Air ordered the Collins Horizon seat (Aeroflot A350, also on TK and AI). They look spacious, modern and elegant. Also support larger screens upto 24".
Collins Horizon does feel more spacious than the standard Unity, but the quality isn't great.
The Horizon seats on KAL 78X are wobbly and the door's still not certified.. it's been locked for 2 years, and they have no timeline.
Qantas 787 flights are (mostly) long. Current seats are coffin-like. Their new seats need to be wider and the footwells bigger to boost relaxation and comfort.
“Storage spIce” sb “space.”
These look a lot more modern than the current product, the doors will help, and hopefully the wider footwells will be substantial enough to actually make a difference.
Do you find that the airlines (for the most part) are gravitating towards similar and undifferentiated J seats? Not to say they're bad. Just undifferentiated.
I mean realistically there's not that much innovation to do.
You have your direct aisle access with 1-2-1 config. You have your doors for privacy.
Beyond making a seat slightly more spacious or adding new technology, there's really not much more a business class seat can become.
“Storage spIce” sb “space.”
These look a lot more modern than the current product, the doors will help, and hopefully the wider foot wells will be substantial enough to actually make a difference.