Australian flag-carrier Qantas is to drastically reduce first-class seating as part of a US$250 million renovation of its long-haul aircraft.
Instead the airline will seek to expand its economy class cabins by up to 20 percent according to initial reports.
The decline in demand for premium seating during the global financial crisis had hit airlines in all regions and according to reports which first surfaced in the Australian Financial Review newspaper, Qantas will retain first-class seats only on its London and Los Angeles flights and reduce the number of aircraft with first-class seating in its fleet from 30 to 12.
