With Qatar Airways and Airbus having reached a settlement in their dispute, and the airline resuming deliveries of A350s, it looks like the Doha-based carrier is also introducing a new configuration for its flagship aircraft.
In this post:
Qatar Airways’ new 395-seat Airbus A350-1000s
The A350-1000 is my favorite plane in Qatar Airways’ fleet. Not only is the A350 a joy to fly in general, but it’s also the only aircraft type where 100% of jets feature Qatar Airways’ amazing Qsuites business class.
Currently the airline has a single A350-1000 configuration, though that will soon be changing, as noted by janvdr on FlyerTalk. Based on seatmaps loaded by Qatar Airways, the airline appears to have a new high density configuration. So, just how much is the aircraft configuration changing?
- Qatar Airways’ standard A350-1000 configuration features 327 seats, including 46 business class seats and 281 economy class seats
- Qatar Airways’ new high density A350-1000 configuration features 395 seats, including 24 business class seats and 371 economy class seats
In other words, these high density A350-1000s will have 68 additional seats, as 22 business class seats will be eliminated in favor of 90 economy class seats.
On the A350-1000, business class currently takes up the entire space between doors one and two, and on top of that there are two rows of business class behind the second set of doors. With the updated configuration, the area between doors one and two will have six rows of business class and five rows of economy class.
As of now, I’m seeing this aircraft loaded between Doha (DOH) and Bali (DPS) as of August 1, 2023, though it’s possible that this will be on other routes as of earlier.
This configuration makes sense for Qatar Airways
Personally I’m not a fan of this updated A350-1000 configuration, in the sense that fewer business class seats means fewer award seats and higher business class fares. At the same time, this configuration makes a lot of sense for Qatar Airways:
- Some markets have a lot of premium, high-yield demand (London, Paris, etc.), while others don’t (Bali, Jakarta, etc.)
- Back when the Boeing 777-300ER was the backbone of Qatar Airways’ fleet (pre-Qsuites), the airline had two configurations — one had 42 business class seats, while the other had 24 business class seats
- The only downside to having two configurations of the same plane is efficiency in terms of aircraft scheduling, plus the impact of any last minute equipment swaps
Qatar Airways has a total of 42 Airbus A350-1000s on order, and the airline has so far taking delivery of nearly half of those. I’m curious to see just how many of the upcoming deliveries feature this denser configuration.
What Qatar Airways is doing here is similar to what Virgin Atlantic has done with its A350-1000s. The carrier’s standard A350s feature 335 seats, while the “leisure” A350s feature 407 seats.
Bottom line
With Qatar Airways once again taking delivery of Airbus A350s, it looks like the airline is planning a new configuration for some of these jets. Some upcoming A350-1000s will feature just 24 business class seats, rather than the standard 46 business class seats.
This isn’t great in terms of award availability or low business class fares, though it’s a logical development. Similarly, Qatar Airways had high and low density 777s, so it makes sense that the same would apply to the newest generation A350s, depending on the destination.
What do you make of Qatar Airways’ new high density A350s?
what would happen if you booked a qsuite then suddenly they would change aircraft to the denser config?
You are wrong when you say "Some markets have a lot of premium, high-yield demand (London, Paris, etc.), while others don’t (Bali, Jakarta, etc.)".
Jakarta has 3 daily QR flights and Business Class in the 3 flights is always full, no matter which plane is operating (359-77W-788).
There are so many rich people in Indonesia and particularly in Jakarta, willing to pay a Business class ticket just to go to Paris for one...
You are wrong when you say "Some markets have a lot of premium, high-yield demand (London, Paris, etc.), while others don’t (Bali, Jakarta, etc.)".
Jakarta has 3 daily QR flights and Business Class in the 3 flights is always full, no matter which plane is operating (359-77W-788).
There are so many rich people in Indonesia and particularly in Jakarta, willing to pay a Business class ticket just to go to Paris for one day for shopping and return.
So please be careful when you make your comments since the information you are giving is not reliable
Hi Lucky,
I just wanted to add that there are in fact some 777-300ERs that are equipped with 24 QSuites, not only only the old business class. I’ve flew on A7-BAZ, which has this configuration, in which J takes up the space between doors 1 and 2 exclusively.
Turkish reconfigurated old 77Ws with 496 economy. It makes them one of the densest 777s of the world. They useing this planes for charter Antalya-moscow flights.
Why do you continue to promote Qatar Airways when their own employees can't event quit the airline without losing their life?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/qatar-travel-executive-death-torture-marc-nancy-bennett-channel-4-news-b1029191.html
Yes I hear that if an employee puts an application in with another airline they get fired right away… is this fair …???? I am not so sure
Wrong headline: it's a high -J version but has the same density (same seat spacing).
Increasing density is when the airline reduces space between rows, eliminate common or galley or storage space, or add a seat per row in Y.
I flew the QR A350 last month. Seat width in economy was awful, did not feel as roomy as before the refurbishment. Felt more like I was flying a 10 across 777 or 9 across 787.
Lufthansa's A350s are also very cramped and uncomfortable in Economy.
Qatar A380 is comfortable but the food sucked.
Should be the same food on both aircraft ….!!
Maybe QR will use these aircraft to replace their 777-300ERs with the 24 seat J cabin (some of which still have the old 777 Business Class and have not been retrofitted with Qsuites). Ultimately if that is the case, then this is a good thing as it will give passengers on those routes a more modern plane (and in some routes a better product).
I fly to Pakistan a lot on QR, and flights from...
Maybe QR will use these aircraft to replace their 777-300ERs with the 24 seat J cabin (some of which still have the old 777 Business Class and have not been retrofitted with Qsuites). Ultimately if that is the case, then this is a good thing as it will give passengers on those routes a more modern plane (and in some routes a better product).
I fly to Pakistan a lot on QR, and flights from DOH are often oversold in Economy and many passengers get op-ups to Business (which is barely sold on these routes). Sometimes QR will operate a 24-seat J 777, but many other times you will see a plane with a larger J cabin.
Oh c**p! So this means as always, India will get the high density planes! Not surprising as QR, unlike EK has very few frequencies to India (ex: BLR, 1x daily vs EK's upto 4x daily) so this is an opportunity for QR to squeeze in more bodies for the same flight.
I don't think this is a downgrade, same legroom and same type of seats just less business class.
When I saw the headline, “High Density”, I was thinking they were going to go with 10 across in economy. Glad they didn’t go that’s route because other airlines might feel compelled to do the same.
Qatar is consistently a good airline to fly. Their fleet is getting interesting for they will fly the best aircraft across the globe. I just don’t like where some of the money used to operate come from.
Hey Lucky, this is unrelated to the post but I just noticed the following in an email from Amex and thought you might want to give everybody else a heads up and a great opportunity to rack up some amex points with Rakuten next week:
"Celebrate the warm weather with Membership Rewards® points on your seasonal and everyday purchases. Link your Membership Rewards® account and you can earn up to 20X points when shopping Rakuten...
Hey Lucky, this is unrelated to the post but I just noticed the following in an email from Amex and thought you might want to give everybody else a heads up and a great opportunity to rack up some amex points with Rakuten next week:
"Celebrate the warm weather with Membership Rewards® points on your seasonal and everyday purchases. Link your Membership Rewards® account and you can earn up to 20X points when shopping Rakuten online or in store from May 8–15, 2023. You can also earn a Welcome Bonus of 3,000 points when you join."
This is a win-win:
- When's the last time anyone found an award seat on Qatar Airways, anyway?
- The QSuites cabin is more exclusive (except for the toilet situation, maybe)
- Five rows of economy class passengers get genuinely benefitted with an exclusive cabin
- For all passengers in economy (which Qatar Airways puts zero investment in), you know more people are going through the same thing as you are, building a sense of community
I was able to find award space just after it was released, and my wife & I will get to fly in Q-suites to Bangkok late January of next year. I found the space on British Airways website, so I had to pay $206 each ticket for fees.
"more people are going through the same thing as you are, building a sense of community"
What are you fulminating about?
Misery loves company, I guess
Booked in April 2 RT J PHL-DOH-CPT in March with AAdvantage miles, 75k each way for each ticket. Those were booked 330 days out. Both legs od that trip are hard to snag.
I note good availability from non-AA hub cities like ATL, IAH, IAD, less than 330 days out. Was looking for my brother going to Australia
Works for routes like Manila, Jakarta et al. where there's minimal to nil business traffic, but you're able to fill the back especially with overseas workers who are paying the cheapest fares.
Looks like I'm on this plane from DOH to DPS in October. I was wondering why there were only 6 rows in business when I was selecting my seat.
Hi Nathan, flying DOH to DPS in September and was wondering exactly the same thing when selecting our seats.