Qantas Cuts Down On First Class Seats

Posted February 24, 2010 by BookingBuddy

You can uncross your fingers and say a fond farewell to dreams of a free first-class upgrade the next time you’re checking in. The good old days of airlines having spare first class seats to give away for free may soon be nothing more than a nostalgic memory.

Australian carrier Qantas has just announced that they will be axing their first class seats, in the wake of a 72% decrease in profits. According to CEO Alan Joyce, more passengers are opting for business class seats these days, where they feel they can get much more value for their money. Their announcement comes just a few days after short-haul carrier CityJet’s announcement that they are replacing their business class seats with a cheaper class that they are calling ‘Premium Economy’. 

Does this spell the beginning of the end for more expensive seat classes on planes? If you’re worried that you may never get the chance to fly in luxury, fret not, at least for the time being. Qantas haven’t got rid of all their first class seats yet – they are still available on twelve Airbus 380s flying major routes, for now.

(Photo: theage.com.au)