It’s an exciting day for Qantas, sort of, as the airline is putting its first Airbus A321XLRs into service. These planes will be used to refresh the carrier’s domestic product, and will eventually become the backbone of Qantas’ narrow body fleet. However, one aspect of the passenger experience on these planes is getting a lot of attention, and not in a good way.
Qantas’ A321XLRs have the industry’s worst lavatory ratio
Qantas Airbus A321XLRs are equipped with 200 seats, including 20 business class seats and 180 economy class seats. In total, the plane has three lavatories, with one being at the front of the cabin, reserved for business class, and two being at the back of the plane, reserved for economy class.
With just two lavatories for 180 economy passengers, that means there’s one lavatory for every 90 passengers. Now, I imagine the average traveler doesn’t have a good sense of what a good passenger to lavatory ratio is, so let me explain — this is among the worst ratios you’ll find in the industry.
If you look at the plane overall, three lavatories for 200 passengers might not be terrible, since that’s one lavatory for every 67 passengers. But since the forward lavatory is reserved for business class, economy on this plane might just have the worst lavatory ratio in the entire airline industry.
I can’t think of any airline that has a worse ratio, but if I’m missing any, please do let me know. For context, the standard on full service airlines operating the A321 family of aircraft is to have at least three economy lavatories, with one lavatory toward the front of the cabin, and two lavatories at the back of the plane. For example, below is the seat map for Delta’s A321neo.
Qantas A321XLRs are largely replacing Boeing 737-800s, which have two economy lavatories for 162 passengers, so that’s one lavatory for every 81 passengers. That’s also quite bad, but obviously adding an extra 18 seats without adding any lavatories makes this even worse. I feel sorry for the queues, as there will likely be a never-ending queue of passengers waiting to use the lavatory.
As another example, ultra low cost carrier Wizzair has a staggering 239 seats on its A321neos, and has three lavatories, so that’s a ratio of one lavatory for (roughly) every 80 passengers. Thanks to the airline being an all-economy operator, all lavatories are open to all passengers.
This is so bad that Qantas plans to reverse course
Airlines are of course always trying to maximize their LOPAs (which stands for “layout of passenger accommodations”), which typically involves cramming as many seats or seating products into a plane as possible. Of course that has to be balanced with offering an experience that passengers will actually tolerate and pay for.
Qantas really pushed its luck with these A321XLRs, and one certainly wonders how so many people signed off on this layout without noting that the lavatory situation was a step too far. So along those lines, Qantas actually has plans to reverse course on this strategy:
- The first three A321XLRs will be delivered with this 200-seat layout
- In the coming months, the airline will start taking delivery of A321XLRs with an additional toilet right behind business class, which will come at the expense of a row of three economy seats
- The three A321XLRs delivered with the 200-seat layout will be retrofitted with that extra lavatory in a few years
- This means that the updated A321XLRs will have three lavatories for 177 economy passengers, so that’s one lavatory for every 59 passengers
Bottom line
Qantas’ brand new Airbus A321XLRs have taken to the skies. While there’s a lot to like about these planes, the lavatory ratio isn’t among them, as there are just two lavatories for 180 economy passengers. I can’t think of any airline that has a worse lavatory ratio, though if I’m missing any, please let me know!
This decision was so bad that Qantas is already reversing course. Starting with the fourth A321XLR, the airline plans to remove a set of three economy seats, and add an additional lavatory.
What do you make of Qantas’ A321XLR lavatory situation?