Qantas took delivery of the first of its new Airbus planes which will begin to replace ageing 737s in its domestic fleet.
Torrential rains buffeting Sydney many have diminished the fanfare but the Airbus 321XLR landed in Sydney Airport at 9.45am on Wednesday after departing Bangkok the evening before.
The arrival of the first 321XLR marks a key moment in the long-awaited refresh of Qantas’ domestic fleet.
The extra-long range narrow-body plane departed the Airbus factory in Hamburg on Monday and flew direct to Bangkok for a 20-hour, one-stop journey, showing off the range that Qantas will exploit as more of the 321XLRs are brought online.
Qantas’ plans for a major media event were cancelled as torrential rains and winds forced the closure of two runways at Sydney Airport.
More than 100 flights in and out of Sydney and Newcastle have been affected by the deluge since Tuesday.
Soggy touch down: The new Qantas Airbus XLR 321 arrives in rainy Sydney.Credit: Qantas
Adding to the gloom, the storied airline was also hit by a cyberattack which may have affected the data of up to six million customers. The incident was disclosed to the public on Wednesday morning.
The first 321XLR in expected to be flying passengers by September.
“Our first A321XLR goes straight into its training program today, with our crew, engineers and ground services providers all coming up to speed with the aircraft over the coming weeks before it enters service on our domestic network,” said a spokesman for the company.
On the 321XLR, Airbus says the plane “offers the widest cabin of any narrow-body aircraft globally” including space for 60 per cent more bags.
This is done by widening the overhead compartments to accommodate carry-on luggage placed vertically, instead of horizontally.
The “Great Ocean Road”.
The 321XLR features wider economy class seats, more economy and business class seats, and larger windows than the Boeing 737. The economy seat, for example, has a 17.6 inch (44.7 cm) seat width, wider than the 737’s 17 inches (43.2 cm). Dubbed “Great Ocean Road”, the plane that landed in Sydney has been configured with 200 seats – 20 in business and 180 in economy. The cabins of the new Airbus have ambient LED lighting and higher ceilings.
Soggy touch down: The new Qantas Airbus XLR 321 arrives in rainy Sydney.Credit: Qantas
The Airbus XLR321 is a major part of Qantas’ refresh which will eventually replace the airline’s ageing fleet of Boeing 737s used domestically.
Crucially for Qantas, the plane is more fuel efficient than existing planes in its fleet.
The Airbus’s extra-long range gives Qantas the option of flying the narrow-body aircraft on longer international routes to destinations such as Melbourne-Hong Kong or Sydney-Bangkok.
The new cabin bins on Qantas planes will fit four 10kg wheelie bags - vertically.Credit: Ayesha de Kretser
Compared to Qantas’ “relatively old B737 fleet”, the A321XLR is more spacious and offers a better travel experience as well as increased seat and luggage capacity, said University of Sydney professor of business Rico Merkert.
“The aircraft features not only a much more modern airframe but also comes with more advanced engine technology,” said Merkert.
“The A321XLR boasts a substantially longer range, enabling Qantas to reach destinations that would otherwise require larger, less fuel-efficient aircraft, the said.
An improved customer experience, better flexibility in network planning of routes, and lower fuel usage make it easy to understand why Qantas is celebrating the start of the replacement of their B737s with A321XLRs, he said.
Qantas’ Airbus 321XLR gets a water canon salute in Sydney.
Another aviation policy expert, who asked not to be named, said the A321s “will help Qantas reduce their cost basis somewhat, and allow them to increase capacity on slot-constrained routes”.
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