Qantas A350 gets Economy Plus, and ‘economy minus’

There’s good news and bad news for anyone thinking of travelling in economy on Qantas’ 22-hour non-stop Project Sunrise Sydney-London or Sydney-New York flights.

The good news? Qantas is adding an extra inch of legroom to the front rows of the economy cabin of its ultra-long range Airbus A350-1000 jets, turning them into an Economy Plus zone.

42 of the A350’s 140 economy seats will see their pitch boosted from the standard 33 inches to 34 inches.

The bad news? To deliver an additional inch to those rows, Qantas will reduce the pitch of some economy seats to just 32 inches.

This is not something you’ll find in the Qantas press release, which trumpets “more than 70% of seats on the aircraft will offer a pitch of 33 inches or more, the most generous of any Qantas aircraft.”

But Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace confirmed the new ‘economy minus’ rows to Executive Traveller on the sidelines of this week’s Project Sunrise announcement in Toulouse, the home of Airbus.

Some rows of A350 economy will gain legroom, and some will lose...

The creation of the Economy Plus zone “doesn’t change the seat count,” Wallace said.

Qantas simply added an extra inch to the first few rows at the front of the cabin, and then took an inch away from some seats at the rear.

“So we’ve been able to manage the (layout) where they’ve got 34s, some 33s, and a small number of 32s,” he said.

As a guide, 32 inches is only two inches more than the economy pitch of Qantas’ domestic Boeing 737s and Airbus A321XLRs.

It’s also the same pitch as the economy seats on the A350s of Cathay Pacific, and just one inch more than the A350s of Qatar Airways.

Some rows of A350 economy will gain legroom, and some will lose...

This puts a new and rather unwelcome spin on the airline’s promise that even in economy, passengers on these ultra-long flights would “experience a new standard of comfort.”

Anybody who unknowingly chooses the last rows of the A350’s economy cabin when selecting their seat, or who doesn’t choose a seat and is being automatically put down the back, is in for a rude shock ahead of a long ride.

Wallace believes the introduction of Economy Plus to the A350 reflects the growing trend of “premiumisation”, and follows the “hugely successful” rollout of Economy Plus on its domestic and trans-Tasman fleet earlier this year.

“There is a willingness to pay (a) differential within that cohort of people who want to travel in economy,” he reflected.

A350 Economy Plus passengers get first dibs on the luggage lockers above their seat.

The A350 Economy Plus proposition will also include priority boarding and priority access to the luggage bins directly above those rows.

Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers will be able to select an Economy Plus seat for free, and Gold Frequent Flyers from 24 hours before departure.

Other passengers can purchase their Economy Plus upgrade for a yet-to-be-revealed fee.

Also read: Qantas scraps plans for London first class lounge

David Flynn travelled to Toulouse as a guest of Qantas and Airbus.