Qantas will refurbish the cabins of 10 Airbus A330-200 jets from next year. The cabin upgrade will include brand new Economy Class seats and upgraded in-flight entertainment.

Last year, Qantas announced an order for more Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft which will start to replace the aging Airbus A330 fleet from around 2027. But that fleet replacement program won’t be finished until next decade. By then, most of Qantas’ A330s would be well over 20 years old.

Qantas realises this, which is why it has decided to refurbish the cabins of the A330s scheduled to leave the Qantas fleet towards the end of the replacement program.

The Qantas A330 cabin refurbishments are due to begin in the middle of 2025, with Qantas expecting to complete the refurbishment program by the end of 2026.

Qantas last refurbished its entire Airbus A330 fleet with new seats in all cabins between 2014 and 2019.

What will the Qantas A330 cabin refurbishment involve?

Qantas will install brand new, next-generation Economy Class seats which are similar in design to those being installed on the Airbus A350s that will be used for “Project Sunrise” flights. The refurbished Qantas A330 Economy Class will retain its current 2-4-2 seating layout.

The seats will feature a new colour palette, 13.3-inch 4K OLED TV screens, foot nets, tablet holders and charging outlets for every passenger. Qantas will also install USB-C charging outlets, Bluetooth audio connectivity and Wi-Fi.

The cabin upgrades will also include new mood lighting, carpets and curtains in all cabins.

Qantas won’t install new Business Suites on its upgraded A330s. Nor does it need to, as that’s still a comfortable and competitive product.

Which jets will Qantas refurbish?

Qantas currently has 16 Airbus A330-200 passenger aircraft in its fleet. Eight of these are configured for domestic operations, while the other eight are set up for long-haul international flights.

Qantas has not yet revealed which 10 of its A330-200s will be refurbished. However, we expect it will likely be the eight international jets, with perhaps two of the younger aircraft in the short-haul configuration converted into long-haul aircraft as part of the refurbishments.

The refurbished A330-200s will be used primarily for long-haul international flights to destinations including Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Qantas has not announced any changes to its Airbus A330-300 fleet.

Qantas’ A330-200s are starting to show their age

The A330-200s configured for short-haul operations are particularly starting to show their age at the moment, and currently have no seat-back in-flight entertainment screens in the Economy cabin. Instead, iPads loaded with movies and TV shows – but no moving map – are offered to Economy passengers. There’s also only one toilet in Business Class.

Despite this, these jets are often used on flights up to 8 hours long from Australia to Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Do you think Qantas’ Airbus A330s need an upgrade? And what changes would you like to see? Let us know on the AFF forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.