Qantas’ New A350 First Class Suite, Wellbeing Zone

Qantas has placed an order for 12 A350-1000s, which will be a major development for the airline. Qantas intends to fly nonstop from Australia to New York and London starting in late 2025.

I wanted to talk about what we know so far about the interiors of the A350-1000.

Qantas’ Airbus A350 configuration

The A350-1000s will have just 238 seats, spread across four cabins. First class, business class, premium economy, and economy will be offered by Qantas. Qantas will have fewer seats than any other A350-1000 operator. This configuration serves a couple of purposes.

• In order for these flights to be profitable, Qantas will have to heavily focus on premium traffic, so having more premium seats makes it easier to maximize revenue
• Having fewer seats keeps the weight of the aircraft down, enabling these flights to be operated nonstop

We don't know much about business class, economy or premium economy.

• We know that business class will have 52 seats, and will be upgraded over Qantas’ current Boeing 787 business class; I’d imagine doors may be added, but we don’t know much beyond that
• We know that premium economy will have 40 seats, and we’re expecting an improvement over Qantas’ current premium economy, with 40″ of pitch
• We know that economy will have 140 seats, and will feature 33″ of pitch (two inches above the industry average), with a comfortable 3-3-3 layout

Qantas has a new A350 first class suite and a new onboard wellbeing zone. In a bit more detail, let's talk about those two things.

New Qantas Airbus A350 first class suite

Six first class suites will be available on the Qantas A350-1000s, which will be a completely new product compared to what is available on the A380. The new suites have some basic details.

• First class suites will feature both a seat and a separate bed, similar to what you’d find in Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites
• First class suites will have doors, though they’re not floor-to-ceiling like in Emirates’ new 777 first class, but rather it’s more of a shoulder-height privacy door
• First class suites will feature plenty of storage, as you can place bags and belongings underneath the bed and ottoman, and there are also several storage compartments
• First class suites will feature a 32″ television, a personal wardrobe, and a mirror
• First class suites will feature tailored lighting, temperature, and humidification, for wellbeing

Below you can find a video and some sketches of the Qantas A350 first class suite.

What is my initial impression of Qantas?

• This is a reasonably innovative product, and looks fairly good
• This almost looks to me like a heavily modified Vantage XL seat; the seat itself may be similar to Malaysia Airlines’ A350 Business Suite, with a bed next to it as well
• I just can’t help but feel like the space could be utilized much more efficiently, as the seat looks fairly narrow, as does the bed; why not instead create a zone where the entire suite could be turned into a massive bed, especially for a flight this long?
• This won’t be ideal for those traveling together, since there won’t be a way to form a double suite, or anything along those lines (of course there are certain limitations that simply can’t be overcome, and this is one of those in a 1-1-1 configuration)
• I’m sure award availability for this product will be virtually non-existent, or perhaps just blocked altogether; Qantas is stingy with premium award availability to begin with, and I imagine that’ll be taken to the extreme on the A350

New Qantas Airbus A350 wellbeing zone

The wellbeing zone will be located between premium economy and economy on the A350. This is likely to be open to all passengers. It is not clear what purpose this is supposed to serve.

It seems that this is designed for people to be able to stretch or grab a drink or snack from a self-serve bar, but it doesn't seem like there will be much to it beyond that. It doesn't look like there is room for yoga or any other activity.

What is my initial impression of Qantas?

• Ultimately this seems more about keeping the weight of the A350 down than anything else
• The wellbeing zone is in an area where there’s an emergency exit, so I assume this will be in place of a galley, in an area where there couldn’t otherwise practically be seats
• I suspect this will ultimately be a nothingburger; it’s essentially a walk-up bar area, and there’s nothing in the rendering that suggests there will be more to it than that
• Even if there were some substance to this, realistically sharing such a zone with up to 237 other passengers limits how much value each passenger could get out of it

Bottom line

Qantas has placed an order for 12 A350-1000s, which will be used to operate the world's longest flights. It's pretty amazing to think that a nonstop New York to Sydney flight will become a reality.

The interiors of these planes will be sparely configured, both to woo premium travelers and to keep the aircraft weight down. We can expect new first class suites and a wellbeing zone.

The new first class suites are unique, but I feel like space could be better utilized to make a more comfortable environment for such a long journey. The bed isn't particularly comfortable or large for me. The wellbeing zone seems to be a self-serve snack and drink bar.

What do you think about the interiors of Qantas?