New First, new QSuites and long live the A380s: how wonderful is this Qatar Airways 2.0
In his first interview with a major foreign TV channel since taking over from Akbar Al Baker, [...]
Qatar Airways
Oneworld
DOH
In his first interview to a major foreign TV channel since he took over from Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways' new CEO, Badr Mohammed Al Meer, revealed well Three pieces of news that can only make happy those who love to fly and who like to do it well and in style.
In this article:
Qatar's new first class
First, Al Meer announced that the company is "at 70-80%" in developing "a totally new First Class", thus denying that the Doha-based carrier plans to abandon First in order to focus its 'efforts' on a consistently competitive Business Class product.
Currently, the only two models that 'fit' a First Class cabin are the Airbus A380 (Qatar has 8 in its fleet) and six Boeing 777-300ERs.
But, in the case of the A380 the product is a decade old and now outdated by several of the Business Class from other airlines (and, we would add, even from Business QSuite itself).
In the case of the 777-300ERs, it is the Cathay Pacific's old First put in the colors of Qatar, as the six planes arrived in Doha from the Hong Kong carrier.
The new First of Qatar, CEO Al Meer explained to the American TV channel CNBC, "will be a mix of our experience with commercial flights and our experience in the private jet industry and I guarantee it will be something profoundly revolutionary in the global First Class landscape."
The decision to retrace one's steps would have been dictated by "shrinking numbers of companies offering the top product, accompanied by An increase in travelers in those few remaining cabins of First's" added Al Meer, before revealing that "We are currently working on the colors, fabrics and other small touches of the new cabin, which we hope to unveil very soon."
Qatar's new QSuite coming soon
Continuing with the good news of this 'Qatar 2.0' (post-era of Al Baker), the CEO assured that the new QSuite, Qatar Airways' flagship business class product, "will make their debut at the Farnborough International Air Show later this July."
This is nothing new since it was the former #1 of Qatar himself, when he had in his style Sneered at Lufthansa for its Allegris. to formalize the arrival of the new booths.
Long live Qatar's A380
A380 Qatar
Finally, in announcing a new, imminent, substantial order with Boeing and Airbus, he said that, unlike what had been the immediate post-pandemic plan "our flagships, the Airbus A380s, will not be withdrawn from service anytime soon but will remain in the fleet for a few more years.", although it does not specify how long. This is good news for those who consider Superjumbo, now quite rare in the skies, the most iconic of all airplanes ever built.
Also here Al BAker had called the A380s the worst mistake ever made in his 30-year career during which he literally created from scratch a giant
