In an Airline Hub Buzz exclusive, the seat maps for the QANTAS reconfigured A330s, featuring the new Business Suites, the seat map configuration is shown. The A330-200 and A330-300 will both have 28 seats respectively in the Business cabin. The seats are configured in a staggered “1 x 2 x 1” layout all with direct aisle access. The seats are manufactured by Thomson Aero with design input by Marc Newson. This type of seating arrangement one that has been adopted by several carriers including SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Delta in select long haul aircraft.

Airbus A330-200 details

The first aircraft, registration VH-EBV, is being reconfigured in Brisbane. The “dash-200” series will have Business Class across two cabin zones. Rows 1 to 5 will be in Zone A between doors 1 and 2. In Zone B there will be 2 rows. Seat numbering is row number followed by A and K for the lateral seats and E-F for the two centre seats. Of particular interest in these extra rows is that they are out of sequence – row 7 is for the E-F seats and row 6 which follows is for the A/K lateral seats.  There is a total of 28 seats in Business. The Economy Cabin, also featuring new seats will have a total of 243 seats.

Airbus A330-300 details

The first  “dash 300” series aircraft to be reconfigured is registration VH-QPA. Like the smaller “dash 200” the capacity will also be 28 seats, however it will be exclusively in Zone A between doors 1 and 2. There will be a total of seven rows in this cabin with the same seat designation at the A330-200.

The Economy Cabin will have a capacity of 269 seats.

Entry into service for the reconfigured aircraft

For those keen to experience the new cabins these are the preliminary schedules for the aircraft. The first reconfigured A330-200 is scheduled to enter service on 22 December 2014. The first flights will be QF411 between Sydney and Melbourne, followed by QF475 and QF476 on trans-Continental Melbourne-Perth-Melbourne services. The aircraft will fly a similar pattern throughout that week.

The A330-300 with the new cabin is scheduled to enter service on 14 January 2015. Its first two flights are QF415 and QF426 on the Sydney – Melbourne – Sydney sector.   These schedules are subject to change at any time and are not guaranteed by the airline.
Services to Asia and Hawaii  are planned from 2015 with these reconfigured aircraft.

// UPDATED 01 DECEMBER 2014 //

This is the preliminary schedule for the first reconfigured A330-200 reg VH-EBV for its first week of operations. Please note the aircraft type is subject to change at any time without notice so there are no guarantees: