Qatar Airways has postponed its inaugural A380 route to London Heathrow for a third time.
The Gulf carrier's Doha to LHR service is now scheduled to commence on September 1, reports airlineroute.net.
It had originally been scheduled to launch on June 17, before it was first postponed by two weeks until July 1 (see news, May 28), and then again to August 1 (see news, June 16).
The first class lounge in Qatar Airways' A380
But the airline has again updated its plans and the superjumbo is now due to be deployed on the Heathrow route at the beginning of September.
However, its A380 service to Paris Charles De Gaulle is currently still scheduled to begin in mid-August. If this date holds, Qatar Airways' inaugural superjumbo flight will be to Charles de Gaulle and not to Heathrow.
Qatar Airways, which has 13 superjumbos on order, first revealed it would fly the A380 to LHR when it debuted its first class cabin at the ITB trade fair in Berlin (see news, March 5).
It then released images of its forthcoming A380-800 first class lounge and bathroom interiors (see news, April 29).
The carrier will fit out its A380s in a three-class configuration of first, business and economy over two decks. The new first class A380 seat features a 90-inch seat pitch, transforming into a fully-flat bed.
Graham Smith
