Qantas rips covers off new A321XLR with extra toilet and super-sized overhead bins
Qantas has revealed two key features of its new A321XLR aircraft — at the same time as defending the glacial pace of the domestic fleet renewal.
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Qantas has revealed customer-pleasing new features of its new A321XLR in the final stages of production at the Airbus factory in Hamburg, as CEO Vanessa Hudson defended the slow pace of the domestic fleet renewal.
The airline has 28 A321XLRs on order, with the first to arrive by June and seven to be flying by the end of 2026, alongside Qantas’ existing Boeing 737-800s.
With capacity for 197 passengers, 23 more than the 737s, Qantas will add an extra toilet to the XLR, with four in total. That includes three for the 177 economy customers and one for the 20 business class seats.
There are also super-sized overhead compartments designed to swallow up every passengers’ carry on, taking much of the stress out of boarding for customers and cabin crew.
Able to fly 3000km further than the 737s thanks to a central rear fuel tank, plus lower emissions and fuel burn, Qantas plans to use the aircraft on domestic services and international flights to destinations such as Bali, New Zealand and potentially Malaysia.
Described as having “wide body passenger comfort” in a narrow body aircraft, Qantas expects customers will love the A321XLR, which form part of the domestic fleet renewal.
Ordered in 2022, Ms Hudson denied Qantas had waited too long to renew its domestic fleet, which now has an average age of 17 years.
Even Qantas chairman John Mullen has criticised the delay in ordering new aircraft which he said meant customers were “not getting the optimum experience”.
Ms Hudson defended the, saying Qantas was one of the few airlines to lodge a major aircraft order during the Covid pandemic.
She said many of the existing 75 Boeing 737 aircraft were “really young still” and Qantas’ strategy was to take its planes to the end of their useful life.
For the 737s this meant “another ten or so years” to go, with the help of a cabin refit for 44 of the younger aircraft, to ensure consistency with the product on-board the new A321XLRs.
“If you think about the average age of the 747 fleet, they were 20 years old, the A380s similar (by the time they’re retired); the 747s had two reconfigurations and there’s no reason why the 737s shouldn’t go through that and upgrade so there is a consistency of the customer experience alongside the XLR,” said Ms Hudson.
“I think it is just about making sure that we invest for our customers and that the experience has a consistency as the 737 is going to be enough until it gets to the point of retirement.”
Despite the planned use of the XLR on longer routes, Qantas was yet to make a decision about whether to install lie-flat beds in business on some of the new aircraft.
Ms Hudson said a decision would be made in the short term and it would come down to “economics”.
“It’s definitely in the short term because there is a certain amount of planning and design and product development that goes into a new configuration,” she said.
“So I would like it to be sooner than later but obviously we’ve got to work the business case for that and understand the economics.”
With more passengers on board and a lower fuel burn than the 737, Ms Hudson said the A321XLR presented an opportunity to bring “great fares to market”.
She said fares on average were generally declining but customers should not expect “Jetstar fares on Qantas”.
“Qantas does come at a premium because we put in a lot of investment in lounges, into free Wi-Fi, and we will continue to make sure that we bring great fares to market on Qantas whether it be through sales or double status points,” said Ms Hudson.
New widebody aircraft were still at least 18 months away, with the first A350-1000 due to arrive towards the end of 2026.
Although Qantas expected to have its final two A380s back in the air this year, Ms Hudson said fleet constraints were preventing the addition of proposed new routes into the US.
As a result it was unlikely Qantas would launch new long haul services before 2027, even though there were many on her wishlist.
“Chicago would be great, Seattle would be great, seasonally into Las Vegas would be amazing,” she said.
“Anywhere from Perth into other points into Europe would also be considered, so when we get to that point (from a fleet capability perspective) we will assess all of those ports and focus the aircraft on the ones we think will operate the best outcome for customers and our business.”
The writer was a guest of Airbus and Qantas in Hamburg.
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