Qantas' New A321XLR

[Quickstatus]

they also have electrical assistance

A380 overhead bins have motorised closing mechanism?

 

[milehighclub]

A380 overhead bins have motorised closing mechanism?

It's more like power assist, so it won't close by itself as such, but requires very little effort to close it. You could do it with a single finger to push it.

 

[justinbrett]

Also, the curtain is back for the divider, but again the first 3 won't have it and will get it when the 3rd toilet is installed too. 4th onwards will have the curtain between Y/J.

That's great news!

Hopefully they bring in pre-ordering meals, that might make service a little faster.

Missed opportunity to install a J cabin like AA, lie-flat for flights to DPS/Asia etc.

Being used for different purposes. They're just replacing the existing A321T fleet which also has lie flat seats. If QF could afford to have a dedicated transcon fleet, then yes it would be a good idea, but most of these will be flying the short East Coast capital city routes. Let's hope QF sticks to widebodies on the longer routes as much as possible.

 

[zainman]

That's great news!

Hopefully they bring in pre-ordering meals, that might make service a little faster.



Being used for different purposes. They're just replacing the existing A321T fleet which also has lie flat seats. If QF could afford to have a dedicated transcon fleet, then yes it would be a good idea, but most of these will be flying the short East Coast capital city routes. Let's hope QF sticks to widebodies on the longer routes as much as possible.

Yeah I understand but then why talk about all this extended range as a benefit?, the CEO was talking about Perth to India... that doesn't sound terribly comfortable in J

I prefer widebodies too but A330's are getting old now...

 

[Quickstatus]

Are the overhead bins the Airspace bins which can accomodate carryon side on?

 

[Quickstatus]

why talk about all this extended range as a benefit?

It's just marketing hype.
You can make the future as rosy as you like.

 

[Sabot]

Looks pretty tight across the shoulders.

 

[Aeryn]

Are the overhead bins the Airspace bins which can accomodate carryon side on?

I believe so. Enforcement of bag size and stowing on edge not flat will make a huge difference.

Article on the nine travel said quoted Hudson as saying "These are new bins, and for every single customer they have a bin and bag spot overhead,".

that could be interpreted as the bin space labelled/assigned for each seat, so passengers can board anytime and feel confident their is room for their regulation sized bag. A positive IMO.

 

[muppet]

I believe so. Enforcement of bag size and stowing on edge not flat will make a huge difference.

Article on the nine travel said quoted Hudson as saying "These are new bins, and for every single customer they have a bin and bag spot overhead,".

that could be interpreted as the bin space labelled/assigned for each seat, so passengers can board anytime and feel confident their is room for their regulation sized bag. A positive IMO.

It could be interpreted like that but I think it’s wishful thinking that there’ll be assigned space.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Let's hope QF sticks to widebodies on the longer routes as much as possible.

Absolutely, I couldn't imagine being on a 6hr+ flight on a narrowbody.

I still stand by my comments made earlier -

This is a 100% fail by QF.

Honestly could have been their chance to step up and compete with the likes of SQ with their narrowbody business class product, especially if they'll be using this plane from PER to SIN, or even transcontinental runs.

 

[justinbrett]

Absolutely, I couldn't imagine being on a 6hr+ flight on a narrowbody.

I still stand by my comments made earlier -

I think it would be a fail if they did put in lie flat seats.

Considering these will mostly be used on short flights it’s fantastic they’re expanding the J cabin to 5 rows, which means more availability in J on key routes which can be hard to get. It also might make J fares on these routes lower.

Worry about the medium haul routes later, that’s not what this is about. It’s the 737-800 replacement.

 

[SYD]

I think it would be a fail if they did put in lie flat seats.

I due course there’s merit in having two fleets - Dom and thin medium haul.

Considering these will mostly be used on short flights it’s fantastic they’re expanding the J cabin to 5 rows, which means more availability in J on key routes which can be hard to get. It also might make J fares on these routes lower.

That was probably the downside of having a fixed J cabin instead of the very old days of variable J cabin size with those adjustable seats that could be configured as 2x J or 3x whY (but better than Euro Biz). My last BA flight had 50+(!) Club PAX going back 13 rows on an A321.

Worry about the medium haul routes later, that’s not what this is about. It’s the 737-800 replacement.

But will they put them on the longer routes first? eg DPS?

Hopefully not, the triangle routes are pretty full at the moment with all the A330s doing QFi medium haul (or maintenance issues). So the extra capacity will be welcome.

 

[justinbrett]

I due course there’s merit in having two fleets - Dom and thin medium haul.

And there may well be in time, but at least the A321XLR is no worse than the 737-800, so nothing is a downgrade from the status quo (A330 replacement is another matter)

)My last BA flight had 50+(!) Club PAX going back 13 rows on an A321.

Who probably paid no more than £50 extra for the privilege. Club Europe is nowhere near the price point as QFd J, nor is it a comparable product (essentially Y with a neighbour free seat).

 

[Quickstatus]

Who probably paid no more than £50 extra for the privilege.

And can be less than Y. (Well it is Y)

 

[jrfsp]

It wasnt that long ago that QF flew the euro style business on the 737-400s on the trunk triangle routes - they would often have 20 or more business seats during peak times.

 

[SYD]

It wasnt that long ago that QF flew the euro style business on the 737-400s on the trunk triangle routes - they would often have 20 or more business seats during peak times.

That’s what I was alluding to earlier. But it was actually slightly better. The middle seat was split and so could make the 2x J wider by folding the middle armrest in. The in between tray table was narrower than the middle seat.

 

[Cognac]

Absolutely, I couldn't imagine being on a 6hr+ flight on a narrowbody.

I still stand by my comments made earlier -

Having done PER-KUL, SIN-BOM, PER-BNE, and many transcon US/Canada on narrow-bodies, I can confirm that it isn't great.

 

[cpatters]

I wonder which rego will have the Aboriginal livery attached?

 

[downtheback]

Don't know if it ever got certified, but feel that the butterfly single aisle convertible seat would have been perfect for this bird. Two recliners turn easily into a single bed, so QF can flip configurations as required (and sell PE on international sectors).

Domestic J / Premium Economy Config:


International J Config:

 

[jpp42]

It's not quite clear from those photos, just to clarify that's 2+2 for the daytime config and 1+1 for overnight, on a single aisle like A321?