Big PaxEx in small packages

Australia’s new opportunity for premium narrowbodies

With the slackening demand for transcontinental premium travel, Qantas and Virgin Australia are facing a dilemma: maintain capacity on Airbus A330-200 flights to Perth and leave seats empty, reduce frequency and thus convenience, or downsize to existing Boeing 737 aircraft and take a significant hit in passenger experience, particularly in business class.

The initial answer seems clear: a little of all three. This approach frees up aircraft for redeployment, particularly to the stronger demand for travel from China, which is currently rather bypassing Australian airlines. But that answer may not be sustainable, and indeed in the international context flying widebodies on flights of this length, with this level of business class passenger experience, is relatively rare.