QATAR AIRWAYS: Is something happening with QSuites?

Alright, I know. Qatar Airways launched its new iteration of the QSuites Business Class at the Farnborough Air Show this week, which some lucky bloggers got sent to. Obviously, not this blogger. I’m not bitter. I’m in Europe for other reasons. So there.

Qatar decided to own the first day of Farnborough by launching the 2.0 version of their famed QSuites, which I have not travelled on. (Bitter? Don’t even start!)

The World’s Best Airline has once again redefined luxury and innovation, elevating the industry’s benchmark in business class experiences.

Qatar Airways Media Release

Sparing you all the hype

The release is dripping with hyperbole, which I am going to protect you from. Below is a collection of the most important additions to the QSuites in their new ‘Next Gen’ form. Basically, the new sites come in several forms, including the infamous Quad Suite, where four seats can be combined into a single suite and the Companion Suites in the window aisles where two seats, one forward facing and one back facing, can have their participation moved to one side to create two facing seats. Here is what Qatar is boasting

• 4K OLED 22″ Panasonic Astrova IFE manoeuvrable screens that move to the side to create Quad and Companion suites
• More space – makes dining together more enjoyable
• More privacy – taller digitally controlled dividers
• Larger lie-flat beds
• Make-My-Bed indicator
• New ambient light controls
• Upgraded touchscreen passenger controls
• New storage – enclosed drawers where you can store your phone, watch, jewellery, etc.
• Improved technology, including new wireless charging

Aircraft models and timetable for QSuites 2.0

The new QSuites will be installed on the airline’s Boeing B777-9 aircraft, of which they have 60 on order, ‘by 2025’. However, those aircraft that don’t even have certification yet are not expected to be delivered until late 2025, and more probably in 2026. So, no breath-holding.

Qatar will also have a new first class product on that aircraft, so yet another announcement to go.

The downside of all this hullabaloo over a business class seat is that there are no plans to retrofit the new QSuites on existing aircraft or even on the remaining ordered but yet-to-be-delivered A350-1000s.

2PAXfly Takeout

Now, putting my cynicism aside, QSuites are, by all reports, great seats, and the new iteration looks even better. However, a seat only goes so far as to make a great airline. The other components are onboard service and offboard service.

Readers have reported some inconsistencies in on-board service, and social media platforms bristle with reports of bad to appalling service off-board, especially when things go wrong for ticket holders.

I have had nothing but praise for the airline in my experience of travelling with them. But, the invasive body searches of female passengers a few years ago, and the Qatari state’s treatment of diverse genders, have made many in the queer community avoid them.

So, the airline has a little more to do than just get its business class seat design right.