Qantas fleet renewal to deliver new domestic travel experience

Domestic travel in Australia is about to undergo its most significant change this century as Qantas replaces its Boeing 737s with larger, more fuel efficient Airbus aircraft.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce delivering the airline’s market update and announcing the largest aircraft order in Australian aviation history with Airbus. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan Coker

Domestic travel in Australia is about to undergo its most significant change this century, after Qantas announced it would replace its fleet of ageing Boeing 737s with rival Airbus aircraft.

The first of up to 134 A321XLRs and A220 jets will be delivered in 2024 with Qantas promising new look cabins to enhance the travelling experience.

At 5m longer than the 737-800s they will replace, the A321XLR can seat 206 people in a two cabin configuration, or 15 per cent more than the Boeings.

The Airbus could also be used on much longer routes, with a range of 8700km compared to the 737’s 5425km range.

“We’re very much looking what sort of product goes onto them because it gives us the opportunity to have a step up in new product that you have never seen on narrow bodies in Australia before,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

The smaller A220s will replace Boeing 717s on regional routes in Australia, with seating for 130 people instead of 106 and a range of almost twice that of the existing aircraft.

Qantas chief commercial officer Vanessa Hudson said that meant they could comfortably operate on Brisbane-Broome or Brisbane-Perth routes, and produce 20 per cent fewer emissions along the way.

“These aircraft and the technology they will provide will unlock not just new routes but new frequency right across our network so we’re really excited about it,” said Ms Hudson.

An Airbus 220-300 in Qantas livery.

Editor of executivetraveller.com David Flynn said the key differences passengers would notice on the Airbus aircraft as opposed to the 737s, related to noise and space.

These new Airbus jets are much quieter than the Boeings they’ll replace, as well as having larger overhead luggage bins which can carry not just more bags but larger bags too,” said Mr Flynn.

“They even feel more spacious thanks to a modern cabin design. We can also expect to see new next-generation seats, especially in business class but even in economy, which will really raise the bar in comfort and features such as connectivity.”

The next generation Airbus aircraft were rapidly becoming the aeroplane of choice for many overseas airlines, with big orders lodged by American and United Airlines — previously committed Boeing customers.

Aer Lingus, AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific and VietJet were also awaiting deliveries of the A321XLRs which could comfortably fly non-stop from Sydney to Tokyo.

The Qantas announcement came as the airline forecast another big half-year loss in excess of $1.1bn after the “worst six months of the pandemic”.

Mr Joyce said domestic flying fell to just 18 per cent of pre-Covid figures between July and November, but he was optimistic the Omicron variant would not significantly impede their recovery.

“You always have to be on edge when it comes to Covid. It’s thrown us curve balls in the past and we’ll keep a close eye on it but every indicator is positive, the vaccine levels and the fact that Omicron is one of the most mutated versions of Covid and the vaccine is still effective against it,” said Mr Joyce.

“And we’re seeing huge pent up demand in the domestic market with the premiers now saying they want to move on and live with this and have borders open and give people certainty on that.”