Qantas: cafes, gyms and 'chill zones' for non-stop 20 hour flights

We’ll just see shall we.......

LOL... another marketing drive but since it’s Qantas the reality will be more seats, seats and seats. Just like the cramped up Dreamliner... That small business zone should be removed for a Emirates like bar area.

The usual rubbish we’ve heard for decades from airlines and the manufacturers. There’ll be just a lot of seats and not too much else.

Pointless article. We heard all this with the A380.

Since I first read about Qantas "Project Sunrise" I felt very attracted by this great adventure full of great possibilities

Nowadays there is high-tech engineering able to develop wonders

More delusion! And converting cargo areas to passenger space... goodbye precious revenue !

This reminds me of the Captain Cook Lounge on the old 747-200’s many years ago. A great idea it was until it was decided that seats earned more money than a flying lounge. I hope Qantas use some of their new found space for more toilets. Alleviating aisle queues for toilet usage would be a winner.

The propaganda arm of Qantas in full swing. Not one thing mentioned here will come to fruition.

and Virgin Atlantic promised a gym, a cinema and beauty parlour, with double beds on its A380s..... what WILL probably happen is there will be 4 first seats (dubbed suites with closing doors), a lot of business class seat and premium economy, with a small lounge area because the need for fuel will restrict payloads being higher

Extra cargo area will be used to store fuel and to lock up complaining passengers.

And pigs may fly. Sorry David, we all know they’ll just lay out the cabin with as many revenue generating seats as they can.

I’d say the reason that the bunk beds didn’t make the list is that all the people they invite to take part are frequent flyers, and most of them already travel in F or J and have a lovely bed anyway.... ask a bunch of Y flyers and I’m sure they would jump at the chance of a sleeper

I again see the suggestion that they’ll do 4 class configuration. I really hope they do.

I will continue to fly to LHR via Singapore, thanks anyway.

Seems a lot of cost and planning for a very selective flight from only 2 cities, meanwhile the rest of the country will have more and more flights using a stopover via the usual places, provabon more and more foreign airlines, can’t help think QF has a lot of other things it could focus on and this is just a distraction.

As a self funded long haul flyer I'm just not sold on saving 3-4 hours, my time is my own and I'm just not that important that I need to save small amounts of time travelling. Yes, getting on an off a flight in SIN, DBX etc can be a little annoying, however, it is really only a first world problem, besides, thre are already some excellent lounges, they just don't fly.

Another QF teasing people without much of a clue and delivering a normal flight experience, but longer with lighter food :) I wonder if anyone has factored in the turn-around cost of all those amenities - having them cleaned up to standard in a limited amount of time. I think QF knock out this sort of information just to fill up empty airspace in their PR department.

Golly, this looks like being as revolutionary as the Premium Economy seats on the 787!

Is it just me, or does this airline keep baiting the media with unrealistic ideas to keep in the headlines, frequently around this time of year, ULH requires min weight to make range and carry paying passengers. Not heavy items in “common use areas”.

Yet more QF vapourware. How embarrassing for our former national airline to resort to such desperate measures.

Call me a cynic, but I'd have $10 with Allan Joyce that pretty much none of these are actually on the plane when it launches. It's probably less of an issue for premium flyers, in Biz or First (if fitted) because you have more room, better seats anyway, but for PE or Economy that is probably where the change would be needed. SQ are struggling to fill PE on their A350 ULR flights. MEL & SYD are big markets for QF and whilst we can speculate as to the economics for the operation of these flights, I do wonder how many Economy passengers they will actually need to make it work.I know if I were having to fly even PE on that length I would prefer a stopover. On business routes like NY or London then I suspect these will work, but on predominantly leisure routes like Rio or Cape Town, I'm not so sure.

If the responses here are anything to go by, QF lose how switched on their PAX are.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Wow, Mr. Joyce and his PR spin doctors are really milking these potential plans for all they are worth. Like most other posters, it's hard to see this amounting to anything in reality. I hope they have some face wipes ready to clean the egg off their face.

As a J-class flyer, the three thing I would like (over and above the standard 1-2-1 business class seat!) would be slightly bigger restrooms, the ability to control my own air nozzles (so I can make it colder!) and somehow, the ability to get changed into PJs privately at my seat.

Pie in the sky!

Was almost ready to believe all of this from QF ….. but then I realised that the story arrived without a cup of Kool Aid.

I have been working on my deadlifts...I reckon I'll try for 300kgs on the plane.

Joyce won't be around in another few years he ll take a packet and run off to BA or Emirates before there is any chance of gyms chill zones and all the other BS...

An A380Plus with some areas to stretch your legs, would be great.

Yeah, yeah... it’s too soon to sprout this after the failed ‘revolutionary premium economy’ that knocked the pitch down from 42 to 38 inches, the piss poor J to toilet ratio & the 9 across on the nightmare liner.

"stationary bikes and rowing machines installed in dedicated exercise zones" - no, too much weight.

Presumably they will use the facilities they mooted for the A380 when the started all the PR for that 15 years ago. I guess they are "political" commitments.

Gosh, what a load of guff. So we’re going from a rammed economy to exercise zones? Great! sweaty people all the way to New York. Superb

QF tend to over promise and under deliver.

Do the Qantas PR dudes that shovel this drivel out every couple of weeks or so do anything else?

............and pigs will fly

Gave qantas away over 20 years ago. Always better cheaper options than QF tickets and this is all hype and false hope. It will be sardine city as always. Allen seems to be getting like our politicians with all the porkys.

The sad part of all of this is that AJ and Qantas have achieved exactly what they wanted. People talking about QF.

54 comments on this shows just how well it has worked.

Good PR tactics to keep QF in the limelight evn though most comments are not very flattering.

So a gym without a shower and yoga space. How about some extra toilets and a bit more leg room since there is space to go around. That way the 98% of people who don’t want to smell all the way to London or who don’t do yoga could get a real benefit.

Hahaha, that ain't going to happen. Gave up on Qantas a long time ago (cramped economy seating and so-so service) and haven't looked back.

A pointless article (and not the first time I have read this basic content). I will wager my mortgage that QF stick as many seats as physically possible into the space, with precisely zero innovation whatsoever, unless that revolves around magically squeezing 12 across in Y, if indeed that could be called innovation. 787 hype vs reality being a case in point. I won't believe a word until the first jet makes an appearance. And on that point, why wait? A350-1000 flying now and has been for several months. Are QF waiting for it to catch on? Or is this just a huge stalling marketing campaign which says almost nothing of substance at all under the pretext of waiting for a 777-x. Complete rubbish. Maybe a one on one interview with AJ and ask him some pouted questions about the rubbish PEY in the 787 would be more interesting than this marketing guff.

love all the comments so far... symptomatic of previous hype never delivered.

David. Can I stick my neck out here a bit. Whilst I appreciate you’re in a difficult impression and there is a note of scepticism in one or two areas here, it does read as a simple regurgitation of a Qantas press release. I think the comment section should give you a fair idea of whether your readers actual believe a word of it. I remember a discussion on these pages recently (regarding non travel content) where you were criticized by some for areas you hadn’t reported on, such as the AA / QF alliance. Yourself Chris and Sid talked about content and one thing mentioned is that you write about things when there is something to write about, you don’t report speculation. Well I’m sorry but the most generous assessment on this piece is that it’s speculation. And most probably a complete load of nonsense. I think it would serve you better with your readers (but perhaps not with the Media / Comms / PR people at Qantas) if you called it out as the likely farce that it is. Sorry if that’s a rant. It’s not meant to be. But I, and I suspect others, come here because it should be free of corporate spin.

Position. Not impression in the second sentence. See, I’d never make a journalist!!

what about a Fat Tax. Im sick of being squished against obese persons. I will never tell them that. That is not fair to them , However airlines should make a hard and fast rule . Everyone is aware and are within their rights to uphold it.

I think strict International limits set on seat pitch and seat width for long haul flights are long overdue. Anyone else agree??

Supersonic flight is the real goal but we need to get into near space to achieve the high speed low cost per mile. High altitude means low air pressure so low drag. Once again I feel it will be small aircraft (up to 50 seats ) that will be possible. Concorde was mentioned earlier and it had less seats than A320. Ow and it did not make a decent profit on the scheduled routes. However speedbird 1 took off from Heathrow same time as a BA 747. Speedbird landed at JFK and the 747 was not even half way across the Atlantic. Amazing for an aircraft designed in the 1960s .

the best idea is the virtual reality goggles-all economy pax should be given one so they can fantasize that there is ample space around them while squeezed into a tight fit cage.What a joke this survey- joyce will do whatever the best to squeeze more bucks out of every seats!

I believe that ultra-long-haul flights are here to stay

The development of high-tech aviation engineering makes the ultra-long, point to point flights, an efficient reality

Every time there is a stopover there is the big possibility of an extra delay, due to air traffic, weather conditions or any other reasons and then, the increased cost in fuel due to the additional takeoff

When I read the 'article' I thought I'd been smoking whacky baccy. I hadn't, but it did give me a belly laugh. The thought of 17+ hours on the squeezy Boeing 787 in sardine class gives proof of calling it a nightmare plane. Where will the exercise equipment and bars be on that aircraft in any section? All this super dooper stuff can only go on the monsters and they can't travel for 17+ hours non-stop. Only once did a 747 do it and it carried no paying passengers, never mind heavy gym stuff. I think the whole idea comes from fantasy land. By the way, has Mr Joyce or any management personnel travelled in the sardine section of the 787 all the way to London? Only after they have will I believe in the value of 17+ hours in the air.

For an ultra-long-haul flight, I think it is very important to take special care of the wellbeing and health of all passengers

I think the Economy Class seats should have a minimum of 35" seat-pitch and a high comfort seat

I also think that a nice Coffee Shop serving high-quality coffee, beverages, snacks, and fruit juices should be in installed, one in Business Class and another one in Economy Class

All passengers need to walk and stretch their body every few hours

I read QF plan to remove 30 economy seats from the upper deck of the A380 and add a further 6 business class an 25 premium economy seats. How many sardines can you fit in a can ?