Qantas has today revealed a series of cabin upgrades for their A330 fleet of aircraft. The new economy seats, with larger entertainment screens, will be available across the airline’s Airbus A330 fleet, which operates international flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. The upgrade is part of a multimillion-dollar investment across 10 A330-200 aircraft.
Seats Designed for Comfort
The 4K OLED 13.3″ entertainment touchscreens boast the latest-generation user interface and will be 20% larger than the existing screens. They will also include USB-C fast charging ports and Bluetooth audio connectivity for economy class, allowing passengers to use their own headphones while on board.
As well as offering exciting onboard entertainment, the brand-new seats will provide extra customer comfort on Qantas Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul flights.
Other key elements of the upgrade programme include new mood lighting and replacement of all curtains and carpets.
Existing business suites with fully flat beds will remain on the aircraft. They also feature on Qantas’ A380 and 787 Dreamliner fleet.
Regarding the upgrade, Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said:
“We’ve used our fleet renewal program to completely rethink the inflight experience and these cabin upgrades mean we can bring next-generation features and designs to our existing aircraft. 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.”
Upgrade Programme Expected to Complete by end of 2026
Work on the first A330 is expected to start in Mid-2025 at Qantas’ Brisbane maintenance facility, with the first refurbished aircraft entering service at the end of the calendar year. The programme is forecast to be completed by the end of 2026.
The upgrade programme comes as the airline announced the final stage of its jet fleet renewal programme last year with an order for 24 aircraft to replace existing A330s. The order included 12 Airbus A350s and 12 Boeing 787s which will arrive from FY27 into the next decade. The longer range of these aircraft means they can operate all routes the A330s currently fly and new ones.
The A330 aircraft undergoing the upgrade programme are scheduled to leave the Qantas fleet towards the end of the replacement programme.
Wi-Fi Rollout
The airline has also started rolling out international Wi-Fi across its A330 fleet. Passengers can enjoy the upgraded service on Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft from December this year. Passengers on activated aircraft can already connect to Wi-Fi when flying over Australia to destinations such as Hong Kong, Delhi and Bengaluru.
The service will offer every passenger a fast and consistent connection, similar to that provided on Qantas Domestic flights.
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