Sydney - Passengers can travel in the first-class cabin of some Qantas jets for the price of a business-class ticket, Australia's leading airline announced Monday.

A 25-per cent reduction in demand for luxury travel has prompted Qantas to suspend the first-class option on routes to London, Buenos Aires and San Francisco.

"We'll sell it as a business-class service so they'll get business-class product and service but some people will be sitting in a first-class seat," a Qantas spokeswoman told The Australian newspaper.

Although fewer than one in 10 passengers travels either business class or first class, the industry standard is that a quarter of revenue accrues from the pointy end of the plane.

Qantas said it had moved to suspend first class on some flights because demand had collapsed despite deep discounting. (dpa)