A while back, I covered how Qatar Airways was planning on adding all-economy aircraft to its fleet, in an incredibly dense configuration, no less. While it was clear this was happening, we weren’t sure of what the backstory was. Well, now we know…
Continue reading: Ouch: Qatar Airways Will Fly All-Economy Airbus 321neos With 236 Seats
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The annoying thing is that this isn't the first time QR are doing this as their partnership with Indigo means that they already have all economy flights to India.
It's not like they even fly those indigo planes to tier 2 cities to boost demand, more than half of the frequencies to Mumbai get them!
I guess the difference here is that these will be actual QR flights so the interesting thing to see will be if they reconfigure the plane once they have their order fulfilled by Airbus.
Why is this terrible? Can it not be interpreted as being responsive to market-specific, customer-specific demand?
@ Lee -- I don't think anyone used the word "terrible." The point is, Qatar Airways isn't suddenly lowering its fares in these markets, and will certainly offer less of an experience than before.
No one said "terrible" but some will interpret it as such. I think few people in the hobby will be crestfallen as a result of this. Having family living in the area and based on their recounting of society there, I see these routes as shuttling non-native base laborers between Doha and their respective homelands. Given the cattle car seating, yes, it's a decline in service level. But, we see other carriers doing something similar.
“Of note is that the plane is in an all-white livery, so I’m curious if it now gets painted, or if the airline will intentionally keep the plane without an identity, to distance it a bit from the brand.”
Really Lucky, this is a bit of a dumb statement. The 236 (head of livestock) people inside the plane ought to know exactly what airline they boarded. Meanwhile the people outside staring at a boring white plane have no way of counting the seats inside of it, would they?
@ Herb_Repozo -- You can disagree with me, but you don't have to call it a dumb statement. 😉 Nowadays we see a ton of wet lease operations at major airlines, whereby you see these kinds of all-white or non-standard liveries.
I think there's almost a benefit to that, from a branding perspective. Most of these flights will depart from remote stands, and people will see the exterior as they board. I think there's something to be said for a non-standard paint scheme, which will reinforce for passengers that it's a non-standard experience.
I didn't say that this is definitely what's going on, but planes are usually painted before they're delivered from Airbus, so let's see if the plane gets a paint job in the next couple of weeks, or if it enters service with this livery.
@ James -- I don't think United and Qatar are on the same level, but I hear you. 😉
@ Lee -- "Given the cattle car seating, yes, it's a decline in service level. But, we see other carriers doing something similar."
Then we're on the same page. I'd similarly write about this if it happened at another airline. I think it's interesting, and I think it obviously represents a decline in service. I'm not suggesting this is the end of the world, or anything major.
"Madinah (MED), Multan (MUX), Peshawar (PEW), Sharjah (SHJ), Sialkot (SKT), and Tbilisi (TBS)".
Oh Lucky, these seem like very low premium travel destinations - MED is for umrah/Hajj & SKT is .. in Bangladesh.
So of course they'll not feature a premium class.
Why don't you be a good boy & find out why AirAsia (after all the dramatic orders at Singapore or Paris Air Show) canceled on these A321LR?
OK?
p/s Air Asia sucks & Fernandes is so cringe.
@Ben, to your last point re other carriers in the region that have a similar concept, it seems like Etihad is wet leasing some economy only A320s from GetJet Air for regional flights as well. Will be used for AMM, BEY, CAI, MCT, etc. I received an email two days ago that my MCT AUH seat for a Nov flight was downgraded from C to Y.
Forgive me if I don't fully trust analysis of passenger profiles from someone who thinks that Sialkot is a city...in Bangladesh.
This configuration is to tap into the lower end of the labour market. Air India Express has been focused only on this for the last many years, connecting Tier 2 cities in India to the Middle East, and only recently started domestic flights.
Not any more. 6E returned all its 737 MAXes to QR in August 2025, and they were put into long-term storage — with the exception of A7-BSG, which moved to fellow Oneworld carrier Royal Air Maroc as CN-RHI. As a result, QR no longer has all-economy flights to India.
I wonder why QR never launched a low-cot subsidiary: Etihad has Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, Saudia has flyadeal, etc.
@Ben: I hope you correct the title from Airbus 321neo to Airbus A321neo. I certainly don’t expect you to write “Boeing B787” or “Airbus 350”, the stickler for detail that you are!
That was my thought as well. I hope these laborers are allowed to keep their passports and return home at their own volition.
Most of the Pakistani airports listed are all B tier airports (for Pakistan) so it makes sense to fly all economy. Any flight worth flying business would be to a bigger hub like the capital or Lahore/Karachi. I say this as somebody from Pak.
Oh, I'm sure they're sold the streets-paved-with-gold narrative like they all are, only to discover they're virtually slaves once they've arrived. I have no idea why anyone keeps promoting these shithole countries run by despotic religious fanatics. Their depravity has long been common knowledge in the West.
Stop gaslighting Ben and visualise yourself flying Airbus with the letter A or something of that kind! 😉
My flight from MCT is the same, but I haven't received an email yet. However, the (paid) seat selection and lounge access have been canceled without comment. It's only an hour-long flight, but since the flight is at 5:30 a.m., a coffee and croissant in the lounge would be nice. Etihad is introducing First Class on the new A321LR and on the other hand getting a wet lease without C...
Makes perfect sense for short flights that have high demand. Perhaps it will pbe priced accordingly.
I have a business class ticket on American airlines from Colombo to philadelphia. But the Colombo to Doha is on this stupid A321. Obviously its economy. Will I get business class benefits like extra baggage band lounge acees.
Did you find out about luggage and lounge access. Change the date to avoid A321, I guess this narrow body operates on Mon, wed, fri. If you book the business class through American's Doha to Philadelphia, the 1st segment through QA is mostly economy.