Qantas unveils improved economy class seats for international flights

Qantas has unveiled new economy class seats with larger entertainment screens that will feature across the airline’s Airbus A330s - which operate international flights to Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

The mult-imillion dollar investment in cabin upgrades will be rolled out across 10 A330-200 aircraft as part of what Qantas says is a "major refurbishment program".

The upgrades include:

# 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” 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 program 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 in Qantas’ Brisbane maintenance facility with the first refurbished aircraft entering service by the end of the calendar year. The refurbishment program is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the multi-million dollar investment in existing A330s cabins would upgrade the experience for both passengers and crew as more new international aircraft progressively join the fleet over the coming years.

“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,” Wallace said.

“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.”

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 some routes in Asia on wifi enabled A330 aircraft from December this year.