Qantas goes to business class war

Virgin Australia announces a $355m loss, following Qantas' $2.8b shortfall.

QANTAS will today take the battle for corporate travellers up another notch, with the launch of its new business class suite in Sydney.

First revealed more than a year ago, the latest "unveiling" will be the final version of the Marc Newson designed suites to be installed in the airline's A330s by the end of the year.

Artist impression ... the new business class suite in a Qantas A330, from August 2013. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Featuring a lie-flat bed, more storage space and a larger In Flight Entertainment (IFE) selection, the new offering will go head to head with Virgin Australia's "Super Diamond" suite unveiled in Singapore last month.

At the time Virgin Australia boss John Borghetti said the Super Diamond suite was superior to the Qantas version, because it offered bigger seats, more leg room and a larger entertainment screen.

RELATED: Virgin Australia's flash new business class suite revealed

He also made a point of thanking Qantas for revealing their suite early, and giving Virgin a chance to "tweak" its own design to ensure it was a better product.

Yesterday Qantas was remaining tight-lipped about its updated offering, saying only that it had undergone "several improvements" since the August 13 reveal.

Another artist impression ... Qantas originally unveiled this as its new A330 business class suite in August 2013 but it has since gone back to the drawing board. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

The changes mean both airlines will soon offer aisle access from every business class suite as well as seats that convert into "fully flat" beds.

In Virgin's case, the airline is even removing some economy seats to give high-paying business passengers more room.

Qantas will be the first to fly with the flash new look, with Virgin's refurbishment of its A330s and Boeing 777s not expected to be completed until mid-2015.

Passengers on domestic and international flights will get to experience the new level of luxury that is expected to coincide with a gradual increase in fares.

Virgin Australia's sleek new business class suite will be on board its A330 and Boeing 777 fleet by mid-2015. Source: Supplied

The latest Federal Government index on domestic airfares shows business class prices are already higher than they were at the same time last year.

Corporate travellers are paying an average of 87.4 per cent of "full price" compared with 81.2 per cent in October 2013.

In the same period, discount economy fares also crept up slightly from 56.7 per cent of full economy, to 59.5 per cent.

Corporate customers continue to be the main battleground for Qantas and Virgin Australia with both airlines doing all they can to woo the business and government market.

Qantas also announced yesterday it would build a new domestic business lounge at Perth Airport next year, adding 30 per cent more lounge capacity.

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