The humble Boeing 737 is the backbone of the Qantas and Virgin Australia domestic fleets. These narrow-body aircraft operate the vast majority of domestic flights within Australia. In fact, Virgin Australia has 82 Boeing 737s in its fleet of 93 aircraft. Qantas owns 72 of these aircraft.
Boeing 737 Business Class on both Qantas and Virgin Australia consists of recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration. These seats offer more legroom, width and padding than Economy seats. But they’re no match for the lie-flat Business Class beds fitted on both airlines’ wide-body Airbus A330s.
When flying Business Class on a Qantas Airbus A330, you can expect a Business class “suite” which converts into a fully-flat bed and offers plenty of personal space. Virgin Australia similarly offers “the business” on its A330, with direct aisle access available to all passengers.
When buying a ticket or redeeming points, you’ll pay the same price to fly on an A330 or a Boeing 737. For the extra luxury and comfort, it’s definitely worth seeking out those A330 flights! Here are the domestic routes within Australia where you’ll find A330s with lie-flat Business class seats…
Trans-Continental Flights between Perth and Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane
Both Qantas and Virgin Australia use wide-body Airbus A330s on many flights between Perth and the major east coast cities. However, both airlines also use Boeing 737s on some flights. This is especially the case between Brisbane and Perth, as well as during weekends. So, be sure to check the aircraft type carefully before booking! Choosing an A330 flight with a lie-flat Business Class bed is especially important if you’re on one of the overnight redeye flights from Perth to the east coast.
Sydney-Melbourne
You’ll often find Airbus A330s on the busy Sydney-Melbourne route, particularly during the morning and evening peak periods. Qantas uses the A330 on this route much more frequently. But Virgin also uses them every now and again, such as on the 6.30am Sydney-Melbourne flight on Monday morning.
Sydney-Cairns
From next month, Qantas will also start using A330s for one of its daily services between Sydney and Cairns. You’ll fly on an A330 by booking QF922, which leaves Sydney at 9am, or the return QF923 departing Cairns at 12pm.
Other Routes
It’s rare to see Airbus A330s with lie-flat Business class seats appearing on other domestic routes. But it does happen. For example, Qantas also occasionally uses A330s on the Sydney-Brisbane run:
Remember, you don’t have to pay for a full-price Business Class ticket to fly in comfort! Simply redeem Qantas Frequent Flyer points for a Qantas seat, or use Velocity points to fly Virgin Australia. Or, buy an Economy ticket and upgrade with points.
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
Australian Frequent Flyer’s personalised reward seat finder service takes the hard work out of redeeming your frequent flyer points!
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team can help you to find the perfect reward flights. Just let them know how many points you have and where you would like to go, and they’ll prepare an itinerary for you using your points.
