Qatar Airways plans to eliminate its most luxurious cabin seats on some of its flights in the future, according to its CEO, Akbar Al Baker. The airline will not have first-class seats on its long-haul next-generation aircraft, said Al Baker, who also cited the lack of justification for investing in the most luxurious seats in terms of revenues. He added that the business class seats offered by the airline provide many of the same privileges as the first class seats.
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According to a statement made to Bloomberg, he questioned the rationale behind investing in a subcategory of an aircraft that already provides all the comfort amenities that first class offers.
As for Al Baker, he believes that the future lies in business class, where Qatar Airways offers its highly-rated Qsuite product. This is why the airline will not have first-class seats on its next-generation Boeing 777X aircraft. These planes will become the largest operated by the airline once it retires 10 Airbus A380 planes, which still have eight first-class seats.
On the other hand, speaking before the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which saw the participation of around 300 airlines, Al Baker said his company’s aircraft delivery operations are falling short by about 15 planes from their target of 25 expected deliveries this year due to issues with Boeing 787 and Airbus A321neo and A350 planes.
Sights on Australia
Additionally, Al Baker revealed that in terms of expansion, the Gulf airline has set its sights on Australia. Qatar Airways is bidding to expand its flights and also plans to support its new partner, Virgin Australia, against its rival, Qantas.
Moreover, the carrier aims to add an additional daily service to Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Currently, it operates a daily flight to all cities except Melbourne, where it runs two flights per day.
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