Qantas has begun selling its Economy Plus product, which offers more legroom, priority boarding, and priority access to overhead bin space on select aircraft types, including the Airbus A321XLR, in a drive to improve yields across its fleet.

The Australian airline will also add the product to its A330 aircraft, expanding the product’s presence on more international routes. Economy Plus will become available on the A330s in mid-2026, it said.

Economy Plus bookings available

On February 2, 2026, Qantas said that its Economy Plus product, which it announced in November 2025, is now available for passengers to book on their journeys.

According to the carrier, the product will offer 40% more legroom, priority boarding, and priority access to overhead bin space. First flights with the new product are taking off on February 6.

Availability of Economy Plus will vary depending on the aircraft type. For example, on the Boeing 737-800, the airline will offer 48 seats in the forward and mid-cabin areas, while on the A220-300, there will be 20 Economy Plus seats.

On the A321XLR, 36 seats will be reserved for passengers who book Economy Plus tickets. Qantas’ first three A321XLRs were delivered with 20 business and 180 economy class seats, while the next aircraft, including airframes registered as VH-OGD and VH-OGE, which have been spotted at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) with their full liveries, will have 20 business and 177 economy class seats, planespotters.net records showed.

“As seating remains a top priority for Frequent Flyers, high-tiered members will receive complimentary access to Qantas Economy Plus from today.”

Complimentary and paid access

Platinum and Platinum One members will receive access to Economy Plus when booking flights, while Gold members will be able to select the seats 24 hours before departure, depending on availability, Qantas detailed.

Silver, Bronze, and non-status passengers will have to pay for Economy Plus seats and their benefits. The price, which will vary across front, main, and exit row seats, as well as routes, ranges from AU$30 ($21) to AU$90 ($63), with the latter being the price of the product on flights between Melbourne Airport (MEL) and Denpasar International Airport (DPS), serving the ever-popular island of Bali, Indonesia.

In comparison to the standard 30-inch (76.2-centimeter) pitch across its 737, A220, and A321XLR aircraft, Economy Plus seats located in the front rows will offer either 51” to 52” (129.5 cm to 132 cm) on the 737-800, or 39” (99 cm) of pitch on the A220-300 and A321XLRs.

Economy Plus Main and Economy Plus Exit Row will offer 34” (86.3 cm) and 38” (96.5 cm) of pitch to passengers.

The updated seat maps for the 737, A220-300, and A321XLR are available here.

Virgin Australia offers an almost identical product, marketed as Economy X, which it introduced in 2017. At the time, the airline said that passengers booking the seat on its 737s would get extra legroom, preferred overhead bin space, priority boarding, and priority security screening.

Whether a coincidence or not, the same day that Qantas made its Economy Plus product bookable, Virgin Australia launched a sale of Economy X, with prices starting from AU$15 ($10.5) or AU$23 ($16.1), depending on the route.

“Virgin Australia has today launched a domestic sale on its premium extra-legroom Economy X seating, with upgrades from just $15* (per person per sector) – reinforcing that when it comes to extra comfort, more space and priority perks, the original still does it best 😉.”

Qantas ended FY25 with an underlying profit before tax of AU$2.3 billion ($1.6 billion) and revenues of AU$23.8 billion ($16.6 billion). However, the company noted that its revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) was down 1% year-on-year (YoY), even if Qantas Group’s domestic Australian RASK was 5% higher YoY.

The higher unit revenue comprised 3.5% growth from higher seat factors and higher volumes of business travel and 1.5% from yield improvements, Qantas stated, expecting another 3% to 5% increase in domestic RASK in H1 FY26.

Qantas will present its H1 FY26 results on February 26.