Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) disclosed an additional order for twenty A321-200NY(XLR)s on August 28, 2025. The aircraft will start to arrive in 2028 and are in addition to the airline's current commitments for 28 aircraft of the type.

Sixteen of the newly ordered jets will feature lie-flat business class seats and in-seat entertainment, a first for the narrowbody fleet of Qantas. They will be used on transcontinental services and short- to medium-haul international routes.

While the carrier did not disclose the exact seat count for the new cabins, the current A321-200NY(XLR) domestic configuration has 20 seats in business, 177 in economy.

According to Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson, the A321-200NY(XLR) fleet will “help us serve the corporate market travelling between Perth International and the east coast of Australia.”

She added: “These additional A321XLRs will accelerate the retirement of our B737 fleet and open up new opportunities for domestic and international travel, allowing us to reach destinations that aren’t possible with our current narrowbody fleet.”

The airline currently operates seventy-five B737-800s, which are 17.4 years old on average.

Hudson said that these aircraft will also be deployed to existing routes in Southeast Asia and enable the airline to launch long and thin routes like Perth-India and Adelaide International-Singapore Changi.

Qantas' total commitment for the type now stands at 48 aircraft. It received its first A321-200NY(XLR), VH-OGA (msn 12323), in July 2025 and its second, VH-OGB (msn 12427), in late August. The first unit has been operating training flights between Sydney Kingsford Smith, Melbourne Airport, and Brisbane International since early July 2025, and is expected to enter into revenue service in mid-September, initially connecting Sydney with Melbourne and Perth. Qantas expects to have seven A321-200NY(XLR)s in service by mid-2026.

The group has a separate commitment for 12 units for low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Airport), with deliveries scheduled to start in 2027, and will be configured in a two-class layout.

According to the airline, the group has 214 firm orders across Airbus and Boeing types, of which 32 had been delivered as of June 30, 2025. It took 17 new aircraft in the financial year 2025 (July 2024-June 2025), with 20 due in financial year 2026 (ending June 2026) and 29 in financial year 2027 (ending June 2027).

ch-aviation data shows Qantas operates a fleet of 131 aircraft: two A321-200NY(XLR)s, sixteen A330-200s, twelve A330-300s (including two wet-leased from Finnair), ten A380-800s, seventy-five B737-800s, and fourteen B787-9s. It also wet-leases a cargo fleet of two B747-400FSCDs from Atlas Air.