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Qantas to boost premium seating on A380 fleet

written by australianaviation.com.au | August 25, 2017

Qantas's 12 Airbus A380s are getting more premium seats. (Rob Finlayson)
Qantas’s 12 Airbus A380s are getting more premium seats. (Rob Finlayson)

Qantas is lifting the number of premium seats on its Airbus A380 fleet to a similar level as will be seen on its soon-to-be-delivered Boeing 787-9s.

The A380s will undergo a cabin refurbishment beginning in the second quarter of calendar 2019, with the 12 aircraft to feature new business class and premium economy seats in line with what is being installed on its 787-9s, a refreshed first class cabin and new cushions and fabrics in economy.

A supplied image of Qantas's 787-9 premium economy seat. (Qantas)
A supplied image of Qantas’s 787-9 premium economy seat that will also feature on the A380. (Qantas)

The work was expected to be completed by the end of 2020, Qantas said on Friday.

While the total number of seats is being increased by one to 485, the split between the four cabin classes is changing.

First class stays the same at 14 seats, while the business cabin will expand to 70 seats, from 64 currently and feature the airline’s latest seat being installed on the 787-9.

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There is a big increase in premium economy from 35 to 60 seats, while the economy cabin is being cut by 30 seats to 341 seats.

Qantas's 787-9 business class, which will be installed on the A380, is an updated version of what is on the refurbished A330 fleet. (Qantas)
Qantas’s 787-9 business class, which will be installed on the A380, is an updated version of what is on the refurbished A330 fleet. (Qantas)

The upper deck will be reconfigured to only business and premium economy cabins, while first and economy will be on the lower deck.

Under the new configuration, the percentage of premium seats on Qantas’s A380s rises to 30 per cent of all seats – the same as on the three-class 787-9s featuring business, premium economy and economy – compared with 23 per cent currently. (See chart below.)

The lounge at the front of the A380 upper deck is also being enlarged.

An artist's impression of the enlarged Qantas A380 lounge. (Qantas)
An artist’s impression of the enlarged Qantas A380 lounge. (Qantas)

Qantas said a more efficient use of space allowed the airline to boost the number of premium seats on board the aircraft.

Further, it said the design integration would be managed by Airbus.

Qantas chief executive said there has been increased demand for business class and premium economy on A380 routes, which are primarily to London Heathrow and the United States, including from travellers using points to upgrade.

“Working with Airbus we’ve been able to achieve a very efficient layout on the upper deck. Using this space to increase the proportion of premium seating improves the revenue potential and the overall economics of the aircraft,” Joyce said at Qantas’s full year results presentation.

“When you combine this upgrade with the other investments we’ve been making in new aircraft and new cabins, it will give us consistency with our premium seats across the A380, A330 and incoming 787 Dreamliner.”

Airbus unveiled an updated version at the recent Paris Airshow to help improve the aircraft’s operating economics and perhaps attract new orders for the program.

The initiatives, packaged tougher as A380plus, cover maintenance, aerodynamic changes to the wing and so-called “cabin enablers” to add more seats.

Airbus said up to 80 more seats could be squeezed into the cabin through measures such as an 11-abreast economy and nine-abreast premium economy on the lower deck, new stairs, the removal of sidewall stowage bins on the upper deck and a combined crew rest compartment.

Meanwhile, Qantas said it would upgrade the remaining two Airbus A330-200s – VH-EBG and VH-EBL – that feature the older economy and business class seats after extending their leases. The airline paused its A330 reconfiguration program after upgraded 26 of its 28 A330-200/300 fleet.

The oneworld alliance member also announced its Melbourne domestic Qantas club and business lounge would be redeveloped, with work to begin in November and take about 12 months to complete.

Qantas aircraft
First
Business
Premium
Economy
Total
Percentage premium

Airbus A380 (old configuration)

14

64

35

371

484

23%

Airbus A380 (new configuration)

14

70

60

341

485

30%

Airbus A330-300

0

28

0

269

297

9%

Airbus A330-200

0

28

0

243

271

10%

Boeing 747-400ER

0

58

36

270

364

25%

Boeing 787-9

0

42

28

166

236

30%

Source: Qantas

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Comments (8)

  • Rusty

    says:

    Is QF planning to install premium economy seats on the A330’s ???? Sure would help for the Asian runs.

  • Lechuga

    says:

    Can see the A380s being scrapped from the Syd & Mel to London and let that be done by Emirates & 787s. And then the A380s going between Syd & Mel to HKG.

  • Walter

    says:

    It would be great if there was a place to test these seats before we (the public) buy a seat on a long haul flight. That is, should l sit in Economy, Premium Economy or Business.

  • Platinum Flier Jim

    says:

    Weren’t the “as delivered” A380’s originally set up so that upstairs was the sole domain of Business and Premium Economy, but were changed to include the small mini-pod of Economy seats after the GFC? If so, then this is more than anything just a return to the original configuration, with the new “non-sag” Business class seats.

  • Charles Falkiner

    says:

    As usual, economy gets the lousy end of the stick.
    I would like to see Qantas use some imagination in making economy a pleasure to fly in. How about an all economy and premium economy 380. Reduce the number of seats slightly to give various cabin configurations to break up the cattle car look and give some paired seats.
    It would be worth the experiment – one to LAX and to DFW. DFW is the only way to fly to the US these days – only LAX if absolutely necessary. Run our economy plus A/C say to DFW twice a week and LAX the other days. Bet it would be filled!

  • AgentGerko

    says:

    Anyone know when the remaining two A330-200s will be refurbed? I’m booked on one in Dec and not looking forward to the angle flat seats.
    Got to wonder what “better use of space” has allowed QF to increase the number of Business and Premium seats, both of which use more space, including presumably changing Business from 2x2x2 to 1x2x1, without drastically reducing Economy numbers. Hope its not by reducing or removing galleys and loos.

  • Flying Tiger

    says:

    It will be sad to see the little economy haven at the back end of the upper deck disappear 🙁

  • MarshallP

    says:

    I sincerely hope that they increase the number of toilets upstairs for premium. 4 toilets to about 100 pax (business and premium economy) upstairs currently is woeful compared with other premium carrier layouts, particularly on the US routes where you are instructed to “not congregate” around the toilets and galleys. The earlier layout was much better from that perspective.

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