Qantas Sets New Travel Standards With Airbus A321xlr Order And Lie Flat Seating On Long Routes

Published on August 29, 2025

Qantas is expanding its fleet pinch a awesome Airbus A321XLR bid and introducing lie-flat business people connected narrowbody craft to elevate rider comfortableness and fortify its world network. This strategical maneouver is portion of nan airlines largest ever renewal programme which is meant to switch nan older craft pinch nan adjacent procreation models which connection higher substance efficiency, greater range, and premium services. Qantas will beryllium capable to usage nan recently added craft to move unfastened caller nonstop routes successful Asia and nan Pacific, providing travellers pinch an precocious in-flight acquisition which was antecedently only disposable successful wider assemblage aircraft.

Qantas Expands Fleet With Major Airbus A321XLR Order and Plans Lie-Flat Business Class connected Narrowbody Aircraft

Qantas, nan flagship bearer of Australia and a cardinal personnel of nan Oneworld alliance, has announced a important description of its fleet renewal strategy pinch an further bid of 20 Airbus A321XLR aircraft. This move strengthens nan airline’s committedness to offering enhanced rider comfort, extended scope capability, and improved operational ratio crossed home and world routes.

This improvement is peculiarly noteworthy because it introduces lie-flat business people seats connected narrowbody craft for nan first clip successful Qantas’ history. For decades, lie-flat seating was an indulgence exclusive to widebody craft connected lengthy world routes, but Qantas is rewriting nan rulebook by bringing this luxury to narrowbody jets, transforming nan acquisition of medium-haul world and agelong home travel.

The Largest Fleet Renewal successful Qantas History

The caller bid is portion of what Qantas describes arsenic nan largest fleet renewal programme successful its history. With nan summation of these 20 aircraft, Qantas’ full committedness to nan Airbus A321XLR stands astatine 48 units. Sixteen retired of nan 20 recently ordered jets will characteristic nan precocious lie-flat business people configuration on pinch individual intermezo screens for each seat, a awesome measurement up from nan existent modular offerings connected narrowbody flights.

Deliveries for these recently configured A321XLRs are expected to commence successful 2028, reinforcing Qantas’ semipermanent maturation strategy. This next-generation craft is designed to switch nan aging Boeing 737-800s, offering improved substance ratio and importantly greater range.

Extended Range for More Nonstop Destinations

One of nan standout features of nan Airbus A321XLR is its exceptional scope capacity of up to 8,700 kilometers. This is much than 3,000 kilometers greater than nan craft it replaces, opening caller possibilities for Qantas to run nonstop flights to destinations that were antecedently considered unviable.

The extended scope will let Qantas to motorboat nonstop services from Australia to parts of Southeast Asia and nan Pacific Islands without nan request for intermediate stops. This is simply a strategical advantage arsenic travelers progressively for illustration nonstop flights for convenience and reduced recreation time.

First A321XLRs to Take Flight successful September

While nan caller lie-flat business people craft will get successful 2028, Qantas will not person to hold agelong to acquisition nan benefits of nan A321XLR. The airline’s first 2 A321XLRs, configured for home and short-haul world routes, are group to statesman commercialized operations successful mid-September.

Qantas will beryllium nan first hose successful nan Asia-Pacific region to present this craft type into its network, marking a awesome milestone. The precocious Airbus A321XLRs will debut connected Australia’s astir traveled routes, starting pinch nan bustling Sydney–Melbourne corridor and nan transcontinental Sydney–Perth sector, earlier rolling retired to a wider web of home and location services.

By nan extremity of this financial year, Qantas plans to person 7 next-generation A321XLR craft soaring crossed its network, allowing travelers to acquisition a caller era of comfort, efficiency, and invention that marks nan opening of its astir eager fleet translator to date.

Jetstar and Future Deliveries

The benefits of nan fleet description will besides widen to Jetstar, Qantas’ low-cost subsidiary. Jetstar is scheduled to person its first A321XLR successful 2027. These craft will characteristic a two-class compartment configuration optimized for world flights, enabling Jetstar to connection a much competitory merchandise connected routes crossed nan Asia-Pacific region.

This wide rollout underscores Qantas Group’s multi-brand strategy to seizure a wide scope of marketplace segments—from premium travelers seeking luxury to cost-conscious passengers looking for affordable fares without compromising information aliases reliability.

A Multi-Billion Dollar Investment successful nan Future

Qantas Group’s patient bid book now stands astatine 214 aircraft, of which 32 person already been delivered arsenic of June 30. This represents a multi-billion-dollar finance aimed astatine modernizing nan fleet, improving sustainability done fuel-efficient aircraft, and ensuring capacity maturation to meet rising demand.

The hose took transportation of 17 caller craft during FY25 and expects an moreover stronger gait successful nan coming years. By nan extremity of this financial year, Qantas projects nan presence of 20 caller aircraft, pinch 29 much scheduled for FY27. These see 36 for Qantas, 10 for Jetstar, and 3 for Qantas Freight, reflecting nan group’s diversified maturation strategy crossed rider and cargo segments.

In summation to patient orders, Qantas retains acquisition authorities and options pinch some Airbus and Boeing, offering elasticity to standard its fleet description successful consequence to marketplace conditions and request trends.

Project Sunrise and nan A350-1000ULR

Beyond nan narrowbody fleet renewal, Qantas is besides progressing pinch its highly anticipated Project Sunrise initiative. The first Airbus A350-1000ULR, which will alteration nonstop flights from Australia’s eastbound seashore to destinations for illustration London and New York, is group to participate last assembly astatine Airbus accommodation this October. Deliveries are scheduled to statesman successful October 2026, bringing Qantas person to its ambition of operating nan world’s longest nonstop commercialized flights.

Project Sunrise underscores Qantas’ dual strategy: expanding its medium-haul web pinch nan A321XLR while simultaneously redefining ultra-long-haul recreation pinch nan A350-1000ULR.

A Game-Changer for Travelers and nan Airline Industry

The preamble of lie-flat business seats connected narrowbody craft represents a important displacement successful customer acquisition standards. For business travelers and premium leisure passengers, this intends enjoying nan comfortableness traditionally associated pinch long-haul widebody jets connected routes that were antecedently served by single-aisle planes pinch constricted amenities.

With enhanced comfort, extended range, and improved efficiency, nan Airbus A321XLR fleet will alteration Qantas to fortify its competitory position successful some home and world markets. This transformation, coupled pinch nan upcoming Project Sunrise flights, signals that Qantas is not only preparing for nan early of aviation but actively shaping it.

Qantas is boosting its fleet pinch further Airbus A321XLR craft and introducing lie-flat business people connected narrowbody jets to heighten comfortableness and unfastened caller nonstop recreation routes.

As nan world aviation manufacture rebounds and title intensifies, Qantas’ forward-looking investments successful next-generation craft position it to present exceptional worth to passengers, support operational resilience, and grow its footprint crossed cardinal world markets.