Qantas fleet renewal promises a raft of new opportunities for frequent flyers

Qantas's ageing fleet is about to undergo its biggest shake-up in history, with exclusive new aircraft designs no other airline will be allowed to copy.

The first A321XLR in service for Qantas will be improved upon as more aircraft arrive, ahead of the much-anticipated A350-1000 in late 2026.

As travellers gathered at Sydney Airport for the first passenger flight of Qantas’s new A321XLR on Thursday, no-one appeared happier or more excited than chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

Two years into the job, Ms Hudson has endured plenty of heat from customers and shareholders over the airline’s ageing fleet and the length of time taken to lodge new aircraft orders.

As of September, the average age of Qantas aircraft is 15.3 years — considerably higher than most of its competitors — but finally on the way down.

By year’s end seven new A321XLRs will have joined the Qantas fleet, bringing extra capacity, greater on-board comfort with quieter engines and new seat features, and important fuel savings for the bottom line.

The XLRs complement smaller A220s that were launched into service on a range of regional and city routes last year, but the best is yet to come in the form of wide-body A350-1000s.

Although Qantas is a relative latecomer to the A350 family, the red-tailed version of the aircraft will be unlike anything else on the aviation world stage.

Sporting an extra fuel tank to allow the aircraft to fly non-stop from Sydney to London with a full payload, the Qantas A350 will also come with a four class cabin configuration and a world-first “wellness zone” between economy and premium economy.

The wellness zone that will appear on Qantas A350-1000 aircraft used for Project Sunrise flights.

So groundbreaking are the aircraft, Airbus has signed an undertaking not to replicate the design for any other airline until all 12 Project Sunrise A350-1000s have been delivered.

Qantas also has another dozen A350-1000s on order to take the place of A330s and eventually A380s on more standard international routes.

It all points to a new realm of possibility for the airline with a fresh modern fleet capable of covering literally any route in the world.

Point Hacks spokesman Daniel Sciberras said Qantas had given a strong indication it would add more international routes to make use of the new fleet’s impressive range.

“There’ve always been those routes that haven’t really been viable with the current fleet, but the XLRs mean routes such as Adelaide-Singapore, Adelaide-Bali are a real possibility,” said Mr Sciberras.

“More routes means more flights means more business class seats, and in terms of the loyalty space, that will improve reward seat availability.”

Adele Eliseo of The Champagne Mile said new product such as the first class suites on A350-1000s operating Sydney to London would be the ultimate reward for Qantas frequent flyers.

Just six suites will be included on each new aircraft with their own bed, armchair, desk and dining space.

Luxurious first class suites on new Qantas A350s will be the ultimate reward for frequent flyers.

The A350 will also have 52 business suites, 40 premium economy seats and 140 in economy.

“We know that people in Classic Plus rewards are willing to part with 500,000, 600,000, even 700,000 points for a one-way seat to Europe so it’s fair to say there will be high demand for those seats,” said Ms Eliseo.

“For Australians who are used to travelling such long distances, the ability to get from A to B without having to stop somewhere is really attractive.”

Adjunct professor at the Griffith Institute for Tourism Gui Lohmann said Qantas appeared to be on the cusp of a new era after some challenging years.

“First of all Qantas was in need of replacing its fleet, which is quite old compared to the top tier airlines in the world, and there was a lot of diversification,” said Professor Lohmann.

“That brings operational and maintenance issues for the airline, so having a bigger focus on Airbus brings a lot of efficiencies, in training of crew and pilots, maintenance and so forth.”

He said it would be interesting to see what routes might be added to the international network and how customers would respond to those, particularly the non-stop Project Sunrise services.

“The interesting thing is whether people are prepared for those routes,” Professor Lohmann said.

“Qantas does seem to be on a winner with its strategy of going point to point, but it remains to be seen whether longer routes of 21, 22 hours inside a plane is something passengers will feel comfortable with.”