Review of Qantas flight from Melbourne to Tokyo in Economy

Introduction.

Welcome back to the final FR of my Melbourne trip series. After a delightful stay in Melbourne, Australia, it was time to return to Tokyo. In this concluding report, I’ll be reviewing Qantas Airways' economy class service on the A330-300 from Melbourne to Tokyo Narita. Enjoy reading…

Check-In & Lounge.

I took the SkyBus from Melbourne's Southern Cross Station to the airport, a journey of approximately 30 minutes. I arrived at Melbourne Airport about two hours before departure, which is more than enough time for an international flight.

The terminal was rather busy due to numerous departures in the morning.

The Qantas check-in space was quite big, with plenty of kiosks but unfortunately no self-kiosks. Luckily there were not many lines, so check-in went quite fast.

With not much to do at the airside, I chose to proceed directly to security and immigration.

There were some queues, particularly at security. The process felt inefficient and stressful, with the staff constantly shouting instructions.

Once past security, your greeted by some large duty-free areas.

Then there's a long hallway of shops, which leads you to gates, lounges and more shopping options.

With about an hour and a half remaining before boarding, I decided to visit the AMEX Centurion Lounge. The lounge was located one floor below the gates, and was also situated next to the Qantas Business Lounge.

The lounge was a small yet practical space. There was couch-style seating in the rear and countertop seating at the front, where a buffet was also available.

In my opinion, the food options looked excellent, offering a nice variety. Since it was breakfast time, there were many breakkie options, including breads and pastries. However, since I’m usually not very hungry in the mornings, I decided to pass and simply grabbed a glass of water.

I spent about 45 minutes in the lounge, mostly working in comfort, until it was time to leave and head to boarding.

Boarding.

The gate was located around a 4 minute walk from the lounge. 

I could see our plane through the windows, but this ended up being the last glimpse I would have of it from the terminal building, as our gate was located in a corner without any windows.

The gate area was extremely busy due to several flights departing around the same time. Next to us was a Qantas flight to Delhi, as well as an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland the gate opposite us.

For some reason, passengers at Australian airports tend to line up way before boarding begins. While they likely do this to ensure they have enough time and avoid missing their flight, it makes the gate area quite crowded.

Boarding began at around 9:15 AM, starting with business class passengers and OneWorld status members, followed by economy class. There were large windows on the jet bridge which provided us with splendid views of our plane.

Aircraft Information

Aircraft - A330-300
Reg - VH-QPD
MSN - 574
Age - 20.7 years

The friendly crew welcomed me onboard, and I made my way to my seat.

Cabin & Seat.

Qantas A330-300s feature a total of 297 seats, including 28 in business class and 269 in economy. The economy seats are arranged in a very comfortable 2-4-2 configuration, which I definitely prefer over the 3-3-3 layouts found on many planes, as many travelers often fly in pairs. 

I’m flying with my father today, and he kindly gave me the window seat for takeoff and landing while he took the aisle seat. We got the bulkhead seats at the very front of the middle economy cabin. The seats were very comfortable, with a width of 17 inches and a pitch of 31 inches, but being in the bulkhead offered a bit more space.

The seats came with a IFE screen and tray table stowed in the armrest and shared power sockets. There was a very large and soft pillow, a blanket and a pair of headphones at my seat.

The Flight.

Boarding wrapped up shortly after settling down in my seat, and the door was closed right after.

Qantas A330-200 with the OneWorld livery going to Delhi right next to us.

The safety video played and we started pushing back. There were nice views of planes as we were taxiing to the runway.

I saw a stored, disused Rex B737-800. It’s sad to see these planes leaving the Rex fleet, but I suppose Rex was always intended to focus on regional services rather than jet-powered capital city flights.

There were about two planes ahead of us—a Jetstar and an Air New Zealand aircraft, along with a Virgin Australia plane landing, so we had to wait on the taxiway for around 10 minutes.

We eventually took off into the cloudy sky of Melbourne

Once we were in the air, I decided to explore the IFE screen. The content was impressive, offering a wide variety of movies, TV shows, series, and audiobooks. The user interface was also very clean and visually appealing. The screen resolution was crisp and responsiveness was really good, unlike the screens on the A380…

There was also a flight map, which was a nice feature, especially since my previous Qantas flight from Sydney to Singapore on an A380 didn’t have one. While not the most detailed, it was still good to have.

One thing to note is that Qantas doesn't offer inflight Wi-Fi on international flights. They plan to introduce it from late 2024, which is something I'm quite excited about.

The inflight service started around 50 minutes after takeoff.

We were first served a bottle of water.

About 15 minutes later, a pre-meal drink service was offered, accompanied by a packaged snack.

I opted for a lemonade, which is always delicious, and the snack mix was quite tasty as well. About 35 minutes later, the first meal service began. There were three options on this flight:

 - Mushroom and eggplant with polenta, roasted tomato, and sautéed kale.
 - Chicken with spicy soy sauce, choy sum, and steamed rice.
 - Beef brisket with adobo sauce, roast potatoes, and onion salsa.
Accompanied by:
 - Rosemary, Garlic, Sea Salt, and Olive Oil Focaccia.
 - Drink of Choice. 

I chose the beef brisket, while my father opted for the mushroom and eggplant. I chose orange juice for my drink of choice.

Love it or hate it, Qantas doesn't serve traditional tray meals in economy; instead, they offer a large main meal. I’m fine with either option, but this has mixed opinions. Nonetheless, I found the presentation of the meal to be quite good. As for the taste—oh boy…it was excellent! The beef was tender and soft, and the roast potatoes were perfectly cooked. The sauce was flavorful, with a delightful balance of sweetness and spice. The focaccia was also very enjoyable.

There was an ice-cream service for dessert, but I passed as I was quite full. Soon after, the cabin lights were dimmed and many passengers seated at the window started closing their window shades.

There was a Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate and TimTam service midway through the flight. I got a TimTam, which is sooooo good!

Throughout the flight, the crew were serving snacks, and drinks were available at any time.

I decided to take a nap, as there wasn’t much to do and I was feeling quite tired. The pillow and blanket made it easy to get comfortable and drift off.

I slept really comfortably for around 2 and a half hours, and watched a movie to pass the time.

The second meal service began around 2 hours before arrival. There were 2 options:
 - Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Italian Sugo and Roast Vegetables
 - Miso Shiitake Beef with Spinach, Steamed Rice and Sesame.
Accompanied by:
 - Rosemary, Garlic, Sea Salt and Olive Oil Focaccia
 - Wattleseed Brownie Slice
 - Drink of Choice.

I chose the Miso Shiitake Beef. The focaccia and brownie were served shortly after, hence why they aren’t included in the photo above. I chose a lemonade as my drink. In my opinion, the presentation of the meal was quite good, and the food itself was very tasty.

After I finished eating, I opened the window shade and there was a beautiful sunset. These are the best views!

Qantas provides an in-flight magazine on board, which is refreshing to see, as such amenities are becoming rare on flights these days.

We eventually started our decent and touched down in Tokyo's Narita Airport.

Arrival and Disembarkation.

Because I was seated at the very front of the economy cabin, I was one of the first to get off. We would be exiting through the first left hand door, so I was able to take some nice photos of the business cabin

That's going to conclude this FR. Thanks for reading!