Why didn't the first Qantas A321XLR jet have a flat business class

With its quiet and spacious cabin, modern interior and more storage space, the Airbus A321XLR will radically change the Qantas flying experience, both on domestic and international routes.

But it looks like the advanced A321XLR jet won’t push that transformative envelope to include flat beds in business class – at least not on the first jetliners that will arrive at the end of 2024.

The A321XLR is part of a three-pronged update to Qantas’ fleet, alongside the agile A220 and the long-range Project Sunrise A350.

These three Airbus jets will shape the future of Qantas and reshape the passenger experience.

While Qantas has yet to reveal details of its A321XLR seating, the airline have confirm layout as

• 20 business class seats
• 180 economy seats

The airline also said “there will be no reduction in seat space” compared to the Boeing 737, which will be replaced by the A321XLR. (For quick reference, the 737 pitch is 37″ in business class and 30″ in economy class.)

“A step in a new product”

Qantas is planning the next generation of business class seats for the A321XLR, with CEO Alan Joyce previously saying Executive Traveler “This gives us the opportunity to scale up a new product that you’ve never seen in a narrow body in Australia before.”

Of course there is widespread expectation that the A321XLR will use state-of-the-art business class seats that convert into a flat bed, given the extra long reach of this modern jet (after all, that’s what ‘XLR’ stands for).

Airbus rates the A321XLR for 8,700km – nearly 3,000km more than a Qantas Boeing 737, and enough for non-stop flights to most of Southeast Asia.

This range – well beyond the reach of Qantas’ domestic network – is one of the reasons the airline chose the highly flexible A321XLR.

Mapping the range of the long-legged A321XLR – some of these flights will definitely require a bed in business class.

Long-legged jets can also open direct flights to and even between smaller cities that can’t justify Qantas’ larger double-aisle jets like the Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 – potentially adding not only new overseas routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, but also cities like Adelaide, Perth and even Canberra.

“It changes the economy of many potential routes to Asia to make it not only physically feasible but also financially attractive,” Joyce said after signing an initial order of the A321XLR in 2019.

And the prospect of that eight- to nine-hour journey, especially with night travel, should make business class flatbeds a must-have, not only for passenger comfort but also Qantas competitiveness.

But the business class bed may have to wait until the second stage of the A321XLR after the initial 20 orders (Qantas has a ‘purchase right’ option for as many as 94 aircraft and may change its order by choosing a variant such as the A321neo” depending on our changing needs in the coming years, says Joyce, although some of those slots can also be used for the smaller A220).

Qantas says the A321XLR will put Boeing’s current 737 business class under the auspices.

So why do we feel like the first red-tail A321XLR didn’t have a reclining business class seat?

Based on the Qantas A321XLR configuration, there is no way to fit 20 business class flatbeds and 180 economy seats into the A321XLR while maintaining the same legroom as on the Boeing 737.

While Airbus won’t deliver the A321XLR to airlines until early 2024, the XLR is about the same length as the base model A321neo (and the longer-range version of the A321LR).

This means that airlines that already fly the A321neo and A321LR can be used as a benchmark, especially if their configuration reflects the two-class layout Qantas follows (some airlines complicate matters with the ‘economy plus’ section of extended legroom or using economy seats in the ‘ Euro’). -business cabin).

The closest direct equivalent is Cathay Pacific, which will start flying the A321neo in mid-2021.

‘Regional business class’ Airbus A321neo Cathay Pacific.

Cathay’s A321neo is configured for a total of 202 seats – two more than Qantas’ 200 – with

• 12 recliners in business class, divided into three rows in a 2-2 layout
• 190 seats in economy class, ranked in a familiar 3-3 layout

‘Regional business class’ Airbus A321neo Cathay Pacific.

It’s a fair call for Qantas to tilt that mix to 20 business class and 180 economy class, but that metric only works if business class maintains its five-row double-sided layout, which almost certainly rules out a business class bed.

Airlines could opt for something like a Vantage Thompson seat, as recently spotted in Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAXwhich produces a flat bed by switching the cabin between a pair of chairs and a single ‘throne’ seat.

Singapore Airlines’ impressive Boeing 737 MAX business class.

Even so, this layout would require seven a row in business class, which is still in demand in XLR’s limited footprint – simply put, a chair that turns into a bed demands a huge amount of real estate.

Singapore Airlines Boeing 737 MAX flat reclining business class replaces paired seats with single ‘throne’.

It’s much more likely that we’ll see the first batch of Qantas A321XLRs with paired recliners, though allowing room for seats that are superior to Qantas’ Boeing 737 business class.

A good example of this is Thompson’s Vantage Duo, which aims for the ‘sweet spot’ between a standard recliner and a flat bed.

The new Vantage Duo business class, from Thompson Aero Seating.

This includes reclining up to 130 degrees, compared to a maximum of 110 degrees for your average business class seat.

The paired seats are also offset against each other, giving each passenger more privacy and a greater sense of personal space.

The Vantage Duo from Thompson Aero Seating changes its seat for greater privacy.

After sampling the Vantage Duo at the Hamburg Aircraft Interior Exhibition in mid-June, the authors were able to prove their appeal – even though the Vantage Duo demands 41” seat spacing, which is quite a distance from the 37” Qantas Boeing 737.

Another ‘sweet spot’ concept is the unique Access Factorydesign business class concept, which introduces a unique ‘fan’ layout for two-parallel seating to provide direct aisle access for every passenger.

Access Factorydesign’s business class concept: the best of both worlds?

In Access business class cabins, the seats on either side of the center aisle are wedge-shaped, and are not only staggered but physically separated so that passengers in window seats can shift into the space between the paired seats and then step straight down the aisle.

It goes like this: Access Factorydesign business class concept.

Factorydesign said its work on Access was “driven by the potential commercial benefits of long-range narrow-body aircraft” – however, the 47” range required could also be a challenge for Qantas in achieving a 20-seat cabin.

Meanwhile, Joyce only said that Qantas has “some exciting plans for the next generation of cabins that we will install on this aircraft, which will offer passenger upgrades that we will be sharing in the coming months.”

Executive Traveler wish Qantas would end up with two A321XLR version: one with a business class recliner for domestic and short-haul overseas routes such as New Zealand, and another with a full flat bed in business class for taking international routes to Asia.

When approached by Executive TravelerQantas declined to comment on the seating or cabin configuration of the A321XLR.

ET reader: what are your hopes for the Qantas A321XLR business class?

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