There’s an all-new Qantas plane taking to the skies from March 1 as the QantasLink Airbus A220 makes its long-awaited debut on the Melbourne-Canberra and Melbourne-Brisbane routes.
A pair of A220s will take over from the Boeing 717 on selected flights between those capital cities, and more routes will follow as the next wave of A220s arrive.
Here’s the rollout:
- Melbourne-Canberra (March 1)
- Melbourne-Brisbane (March 1)
- Melbourne-Hobart (July 2024)
- Melbourne-Coffs Harbour (October 2024)
- Melbourne-Launceston (November 2024)
Qantas has signed on the dotted line for 29 Airbus A220s to be delivered by 2027, with at least seven of the factory-fresh jets due to be in the hangars by mid-2025.
“It’s going to be a game-changer for Qantas” enthuses CEO Vanessa Hudson, “with a new customer experience, new seats, WiFi, bigger overhead compartments for baggage and much larger windows so the cabin environment is much better” than the 717.
The modern A220 will replace the ageing Boeing 717s as the workhorse of the QantasLink fleet for key regional and intercity routes (more QantasLink E190s leased from Alliance Airlines will also step up).
While Qantas has previously maintained the final Boeing 717 would fly away in June 2024, the airline confirmed it has since pushed that exit back to the fourth quarter of 2024 – by which time three more A220s will have arrived, bringing the flying tally to five.
And with the A220s having twice the range of the Boeing 717s they replace, as more jets join the QantasLink fleet they’re expected to open up “new domestic routes… that may not have been commercially viable before,” says Hudson, given the inherent efficiencies of the new A220 over the older 717
“These aircraft have the potential to change the way our customers travel across the country, with the ability to connect any two cities or towns in Australia.”
Qantas expects to have all 29 QantasLink A220s by 2027.
Hudson also hinted the A220 would feature on the Qantas schedule for the new Western Sydney airport due to open in late 2026, describing the nimbly efficient jet as as “a perfect aircraft for Western Sydney.”
Qantas has committed to basing an initial five jets at the new 24-hour airport.
“The 220 will be a great vehicle to start up Qantas operations” at Western Sydney, Hudson added, tipping “I expect you will see triangle operations” from Western Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane.
So what can passengers on the QantasLink A220 expect? Here’s an exclusive first look from Executive Traveller.
Review: Qantas A220 business class
The QantasLink A220 sports ten business class seats (two fewer business class seats than the Boeing 717) in a 2-2 arrangement, with two rows on the left side of the cabin and three rows on the right.
The QantasLink A220 seat map.
The QantasLink A220 business class seats – supplied by Recaro, styled by David Caon and finished in a deep burgundy – are broadly on par with those of the Boeing 737, although benefitting from a modern design that’s more comfortable plus nooks for stowing small items.
The Qantas A220 business class seat.
Qantas’ A220 business class seat pitch is 37” with a 5” recline, with calf rest and footrests.
The Qantas A220 business class seat.
The seat itself measures 20” from edge to edge – one inch more than its 717 equivalent.
As first reported by Executive Traveller, there’s no seatback video screen – instead, passengers can perch their tablet or smartphone on a fold-out ‘personal device holder’ shelf.
There’s also a very small smartphone stand built into one half of the fold-out tray table.
You can stream movies and TV shows from the Qantas library over WiFi, or of course enjoy your own content either stored on the device or from online streaming services such as Netflix, as the A220 uses the Qantas WiFi satellite system for Internet access that’s both fast (~15Mbps) and free.
To keep your tech topped up during the flight, each Qantas A220 business class seat boasts a pair of high-power USB-C and USB-A outlets, along with a smartphone wireless charging pad, although there you don’t get standard AC sockets.
The front row of the QantasLink A220 business class cabin has somewhat limited room to stretch your legs out, due to the bulkhead row just in front.
Rows 2 and 3 are superior for the stretch with the footrest out of your way.
Review: Qantas A220 economy class
The QantasLink A220 has 127 economy class seats, also from Recaro and styled by David Caon, with woollen weave fabric covers subtly mixing charcoal and seagrass.
The 18” wide seats are set at a 30” pitch and arranged in a 2-3 layout.
The Qantas A220 economy class seat.
This puts two seats down the left side of the plane and three across the aisle on the right (so there are fewer of the dreaded middle seats).
In addition, the first six rows on the left are extra legroom seats at a 34” pitch – so if you want a bit more space to stretch out, look to choose the A or C seat in rows 4 through 9.
Here’s how the legroom compares between those dozen seats (on the left) versus the standard A220 economy seat legroom (on the right).
But expect to pay extra, with all A220 extra legroom seats (including the emergency exit at row 12) currently showing a $30 surcharge on the Melbourne-Canberra route, in keeping with practice on selecting the Boeing 717’s exit row.
Even so, the re-shaped seatback offers sufficient wiggle-room for passengers, especially at knee-level.
Also read: How to unlock the best Qantas seats using the ‘T-80’ rule
Between the business and economy cabins is a small ceiling-hanging divider…
… which also serves up extra legroom for passengers in row 4 (the front row of economy), although the architecture of the business class seats still gets in the way.
As in business class, the Qantas A220 economy seats have no inflight entertainment (IFE) screen, but each passengers gets a smartphone/tablet holder along with high-power USB-C and USB-A sockets.
However, economy passengers enjoy a hidden bonus over business class: there’s an AC power socket shared between every two seats.
And of course, every A220 passenger from tip to tail can access free WiFi.
So how serious a shortcoming is Qantas’ decision not to install inflight entertainment (IFE) video screens on its A220s?
After all, the Boeing 717s never had them – and at least the A220 delivers WiFi, which was sorely missing from the 717s.
It can also be argued that the typically short regional routes of the A220 make seatback screens less of a priority.
Among other major airlines flying the A220, three – Air France, Korean Air and Swiss – have made the same decision to forego seatback screens.
This not only reduces weight by an estimated 150-200kg to increase fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs on a per-plane per-flight basis, it also means there’s one less thing to go wrong and be repaired (if rebooting the entire plane-full of screens doesn’t fix the problem).
What it’s like to fly on the Qantas A220
Executive Traveller joined Qantas on the inaugural QantasLink A220 flight from Sydney to Uluru, in recognition of Pitjantjatjara artist Maringka Baker, whose paintings inspired the unique livery of this first A220.
And if you’ve ever flown on an Airbus A350, stepping on board the Qantas A220 will carry comfortable echos of familiarity.
From the modern cabin and large easy-to-operate overhead bins to subtle LED lighting patterns, the A220 is like a fun-sized Airbus A350.
“We love that comparison,” laughs Connor Buott, Marketing Manager for Airbus’ single-aisle jets such as the A220 and A320 families.
“You have the same level of technology in both planes, the same innovations such as the use of composite carbon-fibre materials,” he tells Executive Traveller.
“You have the same advanced engine technology which gives you not just fuel efficiency but a lower noise level.”
The first thing we noticed is how large the cabin feels – there’s a surprising sense of openness and space which belies the plane’s compact dimensions.
The A220’s windows add to this: in addition to being noticeably taller that those of the Boeing 717 they’re set higher in the fuselage, with the net effect of bringing more natural light into the cabin.
The choice of soft relaxed colours in the economy seats contributes to the sense of ‘lightness’ in the cabin, as does the way the deep overhead bins curve up towards the ceiling.
And it’s hard to understate how quiet the A220 is: even on take-off, it’s not much louder than a 717 at cruise altitude.
Buott explains the A220’s cabin is lined with special insulation and sound-deadening materials, “and even the environmental control system and the air conditioning have been tweaked to reduce the noise of airflow within the cabin.”
The A220’s overhead bins have room enough for one standard-sized roller bag per passenger – an established sore point on the Boeing 717 – and they swing down lower than you might expect, making it easier to load and unload those bags.
In short, there’s nothing not to love about flying on the A220, especially if you’re used to the Boeing 717.
After all, it’s worth remembering that the 717 was designed in the mid-90s, some 30 years ago. It’s still a solid little jet, with plenty of airlines still flying it.
The A220 is simply a newer design, so it’s like trading up from your reliable old ‘daily driver’ car to the very latest model.
The A220 also has the benefit of being a ‘clean sheet’ plane designed from scratch – although not by Airbus but Canadian business jet manufacturer Bombardier.
In a bold gamble to reimagine the regional jet, Bombardier created what it called the C Series: the first completely new single-aisle airplane in its segment in over 40 years.
The first C Series was handed over to Swiss Air in 2016, and Airbus cannily acquired a majority share in the C Series program in 2018, rebranding the jet as the A220 to complement its existing portfolio.
The first Qantas A220
The very first Qantas Airbus A220 is dressed in a striking ‘Flying Art’ Aboriginal paint scheme developed in collaboration with First Nations artists and Indigenous Australian design agency Balarinji.
The first QantasLink A220, wrapped in its colourful Flying Art livery.
Around 100 painters were involved in completing the livery, working with 130 stencils to replicate a detailed design by Pitjantjatjara artist Maringka Baker which tells the Dreaming story of two sisters who traverse remote Australia together, covering vast distances to find their way home.
A fisheye camera lens in the Airbus paintshop makes the compact A220 seem a lot bigger.
In the tradition of the Qantas Flying Art series, the aircraft itself is named for the artwork Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa – which literally means ‘the two sisters creation story’ – although all subsequent A220s will be named after native Australian wildlife, as voted for by travellers.
Those names will include koala, Tasmanian devil, sugar glider, platypus, rainbow lorikeet and crimson rosella.
In this one-off design, Qantas’ iconic red tail becomes a green tail.
The Qantas Flying Art series was launched in 1994 with the unveiling of the first Indigenous livery aircraft: a Boeing 747 jumbo jet named Wunala Dreaming.
The Boeing 747 ‘Wunala Dreaming’ was the first jet in the Qantas ‘Flying Art’ series.
Later additions to the Flying Art family included a Boeing 737 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Leading Indigenous Australian design agency Balarinji has worked with Qantas to create the fuselage design for all Flying Art liveries.
International Qantas A220 flights
Being able to fly twice the distance of the Boeing 717 not only brings all of Australia under the A220’s wings, it adds scope for short-range international A220 flights to the likes of New Zealand and key Asia-Pacific destinations – although for now, Qantas is clearly talking up the A220 as a domestic jet.
But its 6,300km range opens up the possibility of flights to Asia from Adelaide – a city that’s long been left off Qantas’ international map – while Perth’s impressive A220 radius encompasses Bali, Jakarta, Bangkok, Phuket, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Phnom Penh.
“We talk a lot about the versatility of the A220 when we’re pitching it to airlines,” reveals Airbus exec Buott.
For example, Air Canada flies its A220s on both the hour-long dash between Toronto and Montreal and the six-hour journey from Montreal to Los Angeles.
And with a total of 29 Airbus A220s on order, there remains the possibility that a large number of these jets might be flown by Qantas (rather than QantasLink) on short-range overseas routes – but would that mean a second configuration with seatback video screens?
Probably not. Qantas’ Executive Manager of Product & Service Phil Capps indicates to Executive Traveller that screens won’t appear in any ‘international’ version of the Qantas A220.
“The main concentration from my side is making sure that the customer experience is bang on and we want to make sure we’re enabling that to fly right to the extent of the (aircraft’s) range.”
“We know this aircraft will be predominantly on short- and medium-haul domestic routes, but in designing everything from seats to galleys to the bathrooms to entertainment, we wanted to make sure we can kind of future-proof and network-proof it, if and when new route network opportunities come up.
