News » 

Qatar to go horizontal in business

Published: 17/04/2008 - Filed under: News »

• Print
• Send

Qatar Airways is to fit completely flat beds into business class cabins, scrap first class lounges on its aircraft, and expand its Premium Terminal in Doha – before knocking it down in 2011.

New fully-flat business class seats will replace the current ones, which recline to a 160-degree angle. The first revamped cabin is being fitted to a new Boeing 777, due for delivery in June.

The airline’s chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said it would take a year before the airline refits the Airbus A330s and A340s that are used on UK routes.

Al Baker said the new seats would have “a lot of amenities” and be as wide as the airline’s current first class seat. He said lie-flat seats would be introduced on routes of more than five hours and pledged to keep first class on key routes.

However, he revealed that the airline will remove the first class lounge areas fitted on the A340s which ply the London Heathrow route. The bar area was introduced only in September 2006, but will be taken out in the next six months. Al Baker said the facility had had little passenger use. The space will be filled with the business class cabin, which will be moved forward, allowing the fitting of 30 to 40 extra economy seats.

Work on extending Doha’s US$200 million Premium Terminal, which opened only 18 months ago, will start imminently. The building, divided into business and first class areas, is being extended on the business class side. Construction will take six months, but the entire building will be torn down when the New Doha airport opens in three years.

Al Baker defended the decision to expand so soon before demolition. He said the facility would bring additional revenue of US$3 billion and claimed: “The real estate value is so high that it will compensate for knocking it down.” The work was prompted by the delay to the New Doha airport, which was due to have a phased opening next year, but will now open in one go in 2011.

Qatar Airways is also seeking a bigger UK presence. Another gateway, possibly Birmingham, is being considered. Al Baker said: “We will have more UK gateways. Depending on aircraft delivery, maybe next year.”

The airline introduced a fourth daily frequency from Heathrow last month, after buying more slots from an undisclosed carrier, but Al Baker indicated this was the end of his airline’s Heathrow expansion.

Al Baker said the Airbus A380 double-decker, which Qatar Airways will get in 2012, would solve the problem of capacity at Heathrow. He said: “Our A380s have not been bought for long-haul, they are for slot-restricted airports.”

He revealed that Qatar Airways was also considering the launch of all-business class flights. He said: “We may launch it with narrow-bodied aircraft, it will be a flat-bed business class,” adding that possible destinations had yet to be decided.

For more information visit qatarairways.com, and for a look at premium terminals around the world, subscribe to the May edition of Business Traveller.

Report by Gary Noakes

Read more about...

• Qatar
• Qatar Airways

Bookmark with:

COMMENTS » 

DisappointedEmbarrased - 23/04/2008 10:11

I'm a frequent flyer member for most of the Gulf airlines and others. I flew recently by Qatar Airways and was apalled by the behaviour of the crew members one of whom was the cabin manager as well as the service of this carrier. On bringing this to the management attention all I received was a thank you for being a valued member and reiterated the quality of its services.

And I quote "

"We thank you once again for taking the time to write to us about your disappointment with our in-flight service as your feedback specifically referred to deviations in the service standards we strive to achieve.

Customer satisfaction is important to us and as our Premium card holder you certainly deserve attention. You have our assurances that the matter has been raised with the department concerned to ensure that we provide our customers, at all times, with the very best level of service as per our company's customer service standards.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused and we look forward to welcoming you and your family members again on another Qatar Airways flight in the near future.

And I ask, is that all QA has to offer a 5 * airline??? A) How can QA claim to have the best cabin crew B) Additional meal request not catered to although same was made in advance and confirmed. No mention was made on the request not catered to in this mail.

I had a similar experience with BA. On reporting the same I received immediately a mail apologising for the incident and till such time BA would enquire on the incident I received an advance credit of 5000 miles to my account. My sincere thanks to BA.

This is what customers / passengers look for in customer service and which is the norm in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific sadly not in the Middle East particularly the GCC countries.

Even pax safety and security is taken for granted, imagine the flight is ready to depart and with pax still settling down most of them on the aisle, the pilot moves the a/craft away from the gate. At times a/craft repairs being carried out with pax on board. Should I say more on Mid-East carriers?

ADD A COMMENT »