Qantas Introducing Economy Plus

Qantas flyers will soon be able to enjoy more space on board, with the airline launching Economy Plus. And in great news for frequent flyers, Qantas Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members will be able to select these extra-legroom seats for free.

Qantas will start to roll out Economy Plus on its Airbus A321XLR, Airbus A220 and Boeing 737 aircraft in February 2026. Here’s how it will work…

What is Qantas Economy Plus?

If you’re familiar with Virgin Australia’s Economy X product, the new Qantas Economy Plus product appears to be identical. The benefits of Economy Plus are:

• Up to 40% more legroom
• Priority boarding
• Priority access to overhead lockers

Unlike Delta Comfort, for example, this isn’t a separate cabin class. It’s simply an extra-legroom seat within the Economy cabin and a few extra perks attached. You’ll still get Economy Class service on board and earn the usual Economy points & status credits.

In general, Economy Plus seats are either towards the front of the Economy cabin, in the exit rows, or directly behind the exit rows.

Many flyers will certainly welcome the extra legroom.

“We’re always looking for ways to enhance the onboard experience and maximise comfort for our customers. We believe this new seating product will be popular with our corporate and leisure travellers when it launches next year,” Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said.

The major US carriers also offer a large section seats with more legroom in the front section of Economy. Just as Qantas and Virgin Australia are doing, they typically offer these for no extra cost to loyal frequent flyers, and as an up-sell to anyone else.

On their short-haul planes, many European airlines also offer seats with more legroom in front of the exit rows. However, they do this because they want the flexibility to sell those seats as Business Class.

Complimentary Economy Plus for Qantas Gold, Platinum & Platinum One members

Qantas will offer complimentary Economy Plus seating from the time of booking to Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers.

Passengers with Gold status will also be able to select Economy Plus seats for free, if there are any left, once online check-in opens 24 hours before departure. Before checking in, Qantas Gold members will still get priority access to the other Economy seats in the forward part of the cabin.

All other Qantas passengers will have the option to purchase Economy Plus for an as-yet undisclosed fee.

This is a genuinely great benefit for Qantas frequent flyers. It’s also a clever strategic move as it neutralises one of the key benefits that Virgin Australia currently offers to its Platinum members which Qantas does not: complimentary Economy X seating. In fact, with Virgin Australia removing a row of Economy X seating in its recent Boeing 737 cabin refurbishments, Qantas will soon offer more extra legroom Economy seats than Virgin on its 737s.

Qantas’ Platinum One flyers can already select extra-legroom and exit row seats for no extra charge on all Qantas flights. This benefit also includes long-haul flights, where Qantas is not offering Economy Plus.

It’s not yet clear whether Qantas will waive the Economy Plus seat selection fee for Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald frequent flyers with other loyalty programs, such as American Airlines AAdvantage.

Which seats will be designated as Economy Plus?

Qantas’ new Airbus A220s and A321XLRs are already coming from the factory with 20 and 36 extra-legroom Economy seats, respectively. These are currently sold as extra-legroom seats for an additional charge.

Qantas will add Economy Plus to reconfigured Boeing 737s

The airline will also add Economy Plus seats to its existing Boeing 737-800s as part of its upcoming cabin refurbishment program, which will also see the Qantas 737s getting brand new seats. The first Qantas 737 with the new interior is due to enter service in 2027.

Qantas says that it will offer a total of 48 Economy Plus seats on its reconfigured Boeing 737-800s, which is equivalent to eight rows of seats. Currently, the only Qantas 737 Economy seats with extra legroom are in the front row and the two exit rows, so this will mean there are five new rows of extra legroom seats.

To make space for the Economy Plus seats, Qantas will remove one row of regular Economy seats from its Boeing 737s. This means there will be 29 rows of seats on the plane, instead of 30.

A missed opportunity to add a fourth row of Business on the 737s?

In theory, according to my back-of-the envelope calculations, Qantas could actually add a fourth row of Business Class to its Boeing 737s, while still adding five rows of Economy Plus. It would still end up with 29 rows of seats in total, but get an extra four Business seats at the expense of six Economy seats.

The Economy Plus seat pitch is 34 inches, which is four inches more than regular Economy. With five rows of Economy Plus being added, that would use up an extra 20 inches of pitch in total. But removing a row of regular Economy seats frees up 30 inches, so Qantas would still have an extra 10 inches of “space” to play with. The Business Class seat pitch is 37 inches, so adding another row of Business could actually be a very efficient use of that extra space.

But my understanding is that Qantas isn’t planning to do this, and will instead add an extra 10 inches of legroom to already-generous legroom in the front row of Economy. To me, this seems like a missed opportunity for Qantas to better monetise its on-board real estate in a way that optimises revenue.

List of Qantas Economy Plus seat numbers

With all of this in mind, we’d expect that Qantas will designate the following specific seats as Economy Plus:

Aircraft type	Economy Plus seats
Airbus A220-300	Row 4, the A&C seats in rows 5-9 and row 12 (exit row)
Airbus A321XLR	Rows 6-7 and 15-18 (rows 15 & 16 are exit rows)
Boeing 737-800	Rows 4-9 and 12-13 (which will become the exit rows after the cabin reconfiguration)

Join the discussion on the AFF forum

What do you make of Qantas introducing Economy Plus? Share your thoughts and join the discussion on AFF!