Qantas has unveiled new Economy seats with larger entertainment screens that will feature across the airline’s Airbus A330s, which operate international flights to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, as part of a major refurbishment programme. The multi-million-dollar investment in cabin upgrades will be rolled out across 10 A330-200 aircraft and includes:
- Installing the brand-new Economy seats that have been designed with extra customer comfort for Qantas’ Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul flights.
- 4K OLED 13.3-inch entertainment touchscreens for Economy with the latest generation user interface (20% larger than the existing screen).
- USB-C fast charging and Bluetooth audio connectivity for Economy, which allow users to use their own headphones.
Other key elements of the A330 cabin upgrade programme include new mood lighting and the replacement of all curtains and carpets. The existing Business Suites with fully-flat beds will remain on the aircraft.
Work on the first A330 is expected to start in mid-2025, with the first refurbished aircraft entering service by the end of the calendar year. The refurbishment programme is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
“We’ve used our fleet renewal programme to completely rethink the inflight experience and these cabin upgrades mean we can bring next-generation features and designs to our existing aircraft,” said Cam Wallace, Qantas International CEO. “Customers can look forward to brand-new Economy seats that have been specially created to maximise comfort and provide features that our customers want for international travel. They’re the same seats that will feature on our ultra-long-haul A350-1000ULR aircraft, so it will be a preview of the Project Sunrise flying experience.”
Meanwhile, Qantas has also started its international WiFi roll-out across the A330 fleet. Fast and free WiFi is expected to be available for Qantas flights on some routes in Asia on the WiFi-enabled A330 aircraft from December this year. Passengers on activated aircraft can already connect to WiFi while flying over Australia to destinations such as Hong Kong, Delhi and Bengaluru. The service will offer enough bandwidth for every passenger to enjoy a fast and consistent connection, similar to Qantas domestic flights where the speed and reliability of inflight WiFi has driven average take-up rates of 75%, with some routes showing up to 100% uptake.
