Overview
- Qantas announced new lie-flat, door-equipped Business Suites for 16 Airbus A321XLRs and refreshed sliding-door suites for incoming Boeing 787-9s, with the premium-configured A321XLRs due to start arriving from 2028.
- The A321XLR Business Suites use a 1-1 angled herringbone layout so every passenger has direct aisle access, a sliding privacy door, a lie-flat bed, a 19-inch screen, wireless and USB-C charging, storage and complimentary high-speed Wi‑Fi.
- Each new 787-9 will retain 42 Business Suites but add sliding privacy doors, wider footwells and updated 80-inch lie-flat beds with refreshed storage and 19-inch screens, and Qantas has not committed to retrofitting existing 787s or A321XLRs.
- As part of the same announcement Qantas said it will accelerate retirement of its remaining A380s starting in 2028 and press toward smaller widebodies and single-aisles to raise premium-seat ratios and cut operating costs.
- Qantas says the plan responds to premium cabin revenue growing about twice as fast as economy and could let the airline open or densify long, thin nonstop routes using the A321XLR’s ~8,700 km range, changing how transcontinental and regional international services are flown.