Recently I flew the 3h 10m flight from Sydney to Auckland on Qantas’ 737 business class. This was my first time ever flying a trans-Tasman flight – a flight over the Tasman sea. The trans-Tasman scene sees competition between Qantas and Air New Zealand (despite their partnership and codeshare agreements), and other airlines occasionally dip in as well, such as China Airlines (Melbourne-Auckland) and Emirates (Sydney-Christchurch).
I flew business class on this trans-Tasman flight, mainly because I’ve not flown Qantas in business class before. The competitive scene is interesting – Air New Zealand doesn’t operate business class on most of their trans-Tasman flights (which are operated by A321neos), though they do operate a significant number of widebody planes. Qantas also operates some widebody aircraft between Sydney and Auckland (especially A330s and 787s), though in this case I was on a 737, as none of the widebody flights fit with my schedule.
Heightened competition is good for passengers, as airlines start investing in their product to gain loyalty and business. In this case, I felt that Qantas invested in their onboard soft product, and I thoroughly enjoyed the food and free WiFi. The airline doesn’t try too hard with their seats, though I certainly felt like it was a much better experience than what you’d have upfront in Europe or the U.S..
I thought I’d share my first impressions, and a full review will come in a couple of weeks.
Qantas’ 737 Business Class: An Alright Regional Setup
Qantas’ 737s have recliner seats, arranged in a 2-2 configuration. Back in the day the airline used these planes to compete head to head with Virgin Australia – neither airline had a fully partitioned business class cabin, and only featured a little divider behind the last row of business class. Virgin Australia doesn’t operate trans-Tasman flights anymore, but the two airlines still compete on some domestic flights within Australia.
These recliner seats are more than enough on 3h flights, and Qantas also doesn’t need to compete with fully flat beds in the same way that Asian airlines do for routes of similar length.
Qantas 737 Business Class Cabin
The seats are aging, and the 10″ screen has definitely seen better days (and I also found the touchscreen to be remarkably unresponsive). However, this is a very passable product for such a short flight.
Qantas 737 Business Class Cabin
Generally if you have the time and flexibility, you will want to seek out a Qantas flight operated by an A330 or a 787, which feature staggered fully flat bed seats. While the 787 is a nicer plane, in this case I might actually prefer the A330, as more of these planes are equipped with WiFi.
Qantas’ longhaul business class, featured on their A330s and 787s
While there wasn’t any bedding provided at the seat, pillows and blankets were available on request. And what a blanket this was – this was amongst the biggest and most substantial of blankets I’ve ever seen in business class, and I was able to get comfortable very easily.
Qantas 737 Business Class Blanket
I believe the 737s are in the process of getting new seats with USB-C charging, though losing the screens in the process. I don’t mind the lack of a screen, especially since the one on my flight was so finnicky to use – Qantas has free WiFi on these planes.
Qantas’ 737 Business Class WiFi: Free, which is great
Qantas has free WiFi on some of their 737s and A330s (they haven’t introduced them on their A380s and 787s yet, though, which operate much longer flights). The WiFi wasn’t particularly fast – Qantas doesn’t have high-speed Starlink WiFi on their fleet yet, though it did remain operational throughout the bulk of our journey.
Qantas’ 737 Business Class Food and Service: Tasty and High-Effort
On this nighttime flight from Sydney to Auckland, I had high expectations of what food would be like, given how much effort Qantas puts into their food in premium cabins. Well, these high expectations were met, and the meal service was excellent.
Look, I’m not going to go out of my way and say that the food was restaurant-quality or out-of-this-world. However, my prawn pasta was undoubtedly one of the best pasta dishes I had on a plane. While I wasn’t amazed by the smoked salmon and potato salad, there were so many elements that just felt refined: a choice between still or sparkling water, two dessert wines on offer, and the delicious cultured butter that came with the sourdough bread (I may or may not have had the entire pat).
Qantas 737 Business Class Meal
The menus handed out on this flight also felt high-effort, and there were five different apéritifs to choose from, Australian wine, dessert and fortified wine, beer, champagne, and more. If there’s one thing I’d have wanted to see more of, it’d be a couple of non-alcoholic options or juices.
Qantas 737 Business Class Menu
The economy meal menu options were read over the PA, and I was very surprised to hear that there were three options in economy class (I don’t remember what they were). This is a very impressive offering for economy on a three-hour flight – some airlines don’t even have three options for economy class passengers on longhaul flights.
Qantas 737 Economy Class
Qantas’ Business Class Lounge Situation in Sydney: Not Great At The Moment
Qantas’ business class lounge is under renovation, and they’re looking forward to opening a brand new lounge in 2027, with a bar and a terrace. In the meantime, they’ve repurposed a crew briefing room into a temporary lounge. I actually think it’s an impressive job – this makeshift lounge even has showers and barista coffee – however, the decor is still very kitschy, and it’s not a great arrangement for a hub lounge. It’s wild that Qantas’ international business class lounge arrangement in Sydney is so much weaker than what you’ll get at outstations such as London or Hong Kong.
Do note that although Qantas passengers can use some Air New Zealand lounges in New Zealand, the same isn’t true of Australia, so you can’t use the Air New Zealand Koru Lounge in Sydney.
Qantas’ temporary lounge at Sydney Airport
If your flight departs at a similar time to an Emirates flight, you can use the Emirates lounge as a Qantas passenger, as the two airlines have a partnership. The Emirates lounge doesn’t feature better seating or amenities (catering might actually be slightly better, though not much so), though it is much quieter, and features free-flow Veuve Clicquot and Laurent-Perrier champagne. The lounge opens four hours before an operating Emirates flight (the lounge’s posted opening time for the afternoon was 5:10 PM, but the 9:10 PM flight was cancelled due to the current geopolitical situation, though the 9:45 PM flight was operating. So the lounge ended up opening pretty much at 5:45 PM on the dot.)
Emirates Lounge Sydney Airport
Of course, if you’re a Oneworld Emerald member, you can use the beautiful Qantas First Class lounge. I’m not an Emerald member, so couldn’t take advantage of this.
Why is Auckland Airport so crowded at 12:30am!?
I booked the last flight of the day out of Sydney Airport, and it landed in Auckland Airport at 12:25 AM. I (perhaps naïvely) assumed that the airport would be deserted at this time, and getting out would be a piece of cake. Not so – not only had some Qantas flights arrived at similar times from different cities in Australia, but a Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines flight pulled in from their respective hubs within the hour as well.
Can someone please tell me why so many flights land in New Zealand at such a strange hour? New Zealand is very strict with biosecurity, so it took a while to exit the airport, despite having no checked bags and not being pulled aside for any further screening.
Auckland Airport biosecurity line at 1am
Conclusion: Qantas 737 business class on a trans-Tasman flight
It was fascinating flying my first trans-Tasman flight, and I found Qantas’ quality to be closer to the quality of an Asian shorthaul flight in a premium cabin, as opposed to one in Europe or the U.S.. While the seat was nothing special, the catering was delicious, amenities were very good, and WiFi was free.
I’d love to fly more within the Oceania region, and this was a great start!
Do you enjoy flying within the Oceania region, particularly on trans-Tasman flights?
