Did anyone ever fly on the Qantas 767-300ER with the split first/business class up front?

[FlightDetective]

I came across an old thread on here where someone was asking if anyone had any pictures of the Qantas Boeing 767-338ER split first and business class cabin. That inspired me to have a look around online and I couldn't find any photos of it, and only the smallest low-res seat map that someone once posted on here.

Anyway, I ended up hunting and coming up with nothing, so eventually I just e-mailed Qantas. They passed me on to the Qantas Heritage Collection who sent me over the pictures and the LOPA.

Thought they might be of interest, so here they are.





As far as I can tell, no other airline did this, running a wall down the Zone A on the 767 to create two separate cabins.

If anyone's interested, the complete article I wrote is here - Revealed! The unique Qantas Boeing 767 split first/business cabin - TravelUpdate

I'd love to know if anyone actually flew in it and what that was like! Did you know this existed?

 

[RooFlyer]

I think Thai had a split B747 F/J on the lower deck. I have a vague memory of flying it and thinking it was horrible for the J pax against the wall in the middle. @drron didn't we discuss this once?

Edit: it wasn't a F/J split but a wall dividing J from a galley!

Article and pics here: Review: Thai Airways 747-400 Business Class Tokyo to Bangkok - Live and Let's Fly

 

[drron]

Didn't fly the QF 767 excpt on domestic routes occasionally.
Can't remember discussing it but that doesn't mean I didn't.

 

[SYD]

The later 1-2-2 config subsequently became popular for solo travellers!

RE Thai - I recall seeing that seat plan and being horrified - even though I was booked in F!

 

[nealeferguson]

Flew AKL-SYD in 1988 in this configuration. Felt odd with the separating wall. I was on the BC side.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @nealeferguson

 

[Quickstatus]

I never got the chance but have flown in these aircraft but from the perspective of whY

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for posting! I’ve seen seat maps of the configuration, but never seen a photo! Well done and thanks!!

 

[Peasant]

Thanks for your research and for going to the effort to post this here. I for one love these pieces of nostalgia, so it's very much appreciated and enjoyed.

This config, on the other hand, looks like something only an Australian public servant could dream up.

 

[FlightDetective]

Flew AKL-SYD in 1988 in this configuration. Felt odd with the separating wall. I was on the BC side.

I imagine sitting right next to the wall would have been a little claustrophobia inducing! Great to actually find someone who experienced it.

I never got the chance but have flown in these aircraft but from the perspective of whY

My guess is the first class seats were too wide to go 2x2x2 across the cabin, so this was the solution. Something different!

Thanks for posting! I’ve seen seat maps of the configuration, but never seen a photo! Well done and thanks!!

You're welcome, glad you liked seeing it. I was delighted when they came back so quickly with the images really.

Thanks for your research and for going to the effort to post this here. I for one love these pieces of nostalgia, so it's very much appreciated and enjoyed.

This config, on the other hand, looks like something only an Australian public servant could dream up.

Thanks for the kind words... and yes, definitely out of the box thinking there by someone!!

 

[pauly7]

I came across an old thread on here where someone was asking if anyone had any pictures of the Qantas Boeing 767-338ER split first and business class cabin. That inspired me to have a look around online and I couldn't find any photos of it, and only the smallest low-res seat map that someone once posted on here.

Anyway, I ended up hunting and coming up with nothing, so eventually I just e-mailed Qantas. They passed me on to the Qantas Heritage Collection who sent me over the pictures and the LOPA.

Thought they might be of interest, so here they are.

View attachment 322025

View attachment 322026

As far as I can tell, no other airline did this, running a wall down the Zone A on the 767 to create two separate cabins.

If anyone's interested, the complete article I wrote is here - Revealed! The unique Qantas Boeing 767 split first/business cabin - TravelUpdate

I'd love to know if anyone actually flew in it and what that was like! Did you know this existed?

Thanks for posting!

Wayyyyy before my time as a FF would have loved to have flown this bird. The saddest day in AU aviation for FF’s was when we lost our domestic 763 fleet!

Now stuck with mostly horrid 737s. Thank goodness for the trans con A330s!

 

[BD1959]

Flew one of these back from HKG in 1990. Sister-in-Law was working the F cabin and managed to sneak me some goodies down in Y.

Regards,

BD

 

[jpp42]

Now stuck with mostly horrid 737s. Thank goodness for the trans con A330s!

Which more and more of are getting replaced with 73's due to the B787 shortage and increasing requirements for A330's to be pressed into international service as the network keeps growing...

 

[Feka742]

Thanks for posting @FlightDetective! Haven't seen pictures of this rare config before.

QF used a similar arrangement on the 747SP to accommodate a longitudinal galley on the starboard side (same as Thai's 747s referenced here).

In the final config used up until their retirement in 2002, they had a block of Y seats in against the long bulkhead in Zone B - very claustrophobic in the right hand 'window' seat!

I think most operators configured 747SP galleys in this way, because it enabled a single galley to be used for both J and Y on the short 747.

 

[Mr H]

RE Thai - I recall seeing that seat plan and being horrified - even though I was booked in F!

Same. The J offering sounded awful and I remember disembarking with my orchid and seeing all the poor J souls trapped behind a velvet rope.

 

[pauly7]

Which more and more of are getting replaced with 73's due to the B787 shortage and increasing requirements for A330's to be pressed into international service as the network keeps growing...

More than half of trans con from MEL and SYD for trans con are A330s so thankfully I can easily dodge the plague of 737s that are in Australia!

But yes the 787 issues keep on giving!

 

[kpro]

QF used a similar arrangement on the 747SP to accommodate a longitudinal galley on the starboard side

Had a look on YouTube, you can see that galley at 3:47 - Qantas 747 SP Nagoya/Cairns/Sydney, 13 December 1999.

 

[Bjet]

Wow! that's an interesting one. Yeah I remember the "strange cabin" - the wall divided in the cabin but never seen one in real life. I have seen some photos from the airlines brochures that show the wall divided between 2 classes or business class with galley. I think Thai, Qantas, KLM and SAA (South African Airways) had them.

 

[Mr H]

Interesting that the QF split configured F as paired seats and J as 2-1. You'd think they would have put the F aisle in the middle to create 1-1.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Interesting that the QF split configured F as paired seats and J as 2-1. You'd think they would have put the F aisle in the middle to create 1-1.

That was still ‘old skool’ days of F Seats were always in pairs back then. I think Pan Am had a single seat on one side right up in the nose of some of their 747 variants, but it was pretty rare. (And only then to squeeze in 5 rows instead of 4.)