Qatar Airways’ first non-stop flight from Doha to Penang touched down at Penang International Airport on Tuesday, the carrier’s second non-stop destination in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur.
The service currently operates three times a week, however Qatar Airways announced yesterday that this would be increased to a four weekly flights starting July 1, 2018.
“Our Kuala Lumpur service started in 2001, and it has since grown to a triple-daily non-stop service to and from Doha,” said Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker.
“The addition of Penang to our global network comes as part of our continued expansion plans throughout Eastern Asia, as we have recently launched direct services to Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Pattaya, as well as adding additional services to Krabi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.”
Qatar Airways flies its two-class Boeing 787 to Penang, outfitted with 22 business class and 232 economy seats.
Business class is laid out 1-2-1 in a herringbone configuration, with each seat offering 50 inches of pitch when upright and a bed length of 77.7 to 80 inches when reclined to a fully flat position. Seat width is 22 inches and each comes with in-seat power and USB ports.
Economy class is configured 3-3-3 with a pitch of 31 inches and a width of 16.9 to 17.3 inches. While these do also feature in-seat power outlets, there are only six per row, though all seats get access to their own USB port.
Penang International Airport is one of Malaysia’s busiest airports, seeing about seven million passenger movements in 2017.
