Surprise: Qatar Airways Plans New First Class

In late 2023, we saw a major shakeup to management at Qatar Airways, as longtime CEO Akbar Al Baker resigned, with Badr Mohammed Al Meer being appointed the new CEO. He has been implementing some pretty significant changes at the airline, and here’s the latest example of that.

Qatar Airways backtracks on first class plans

Qatar Airways’ new CEO had an interesting interview with CNBC, talking about how it’s “a new era” at the Gulf carrier, following a multi-month “war room” review of the business. He’s not only looking to refresh the carrier’s strategy, but also to reset relationships with suppliers.

As part of this review, Al Meer has decided that a long haul first class product does have a future at the airline. For context, when Al Baker was CEO, he made it clear that he planned to eliminate first class, claiming that there’s no need for the product, because the carrier’s business class is so good:

“Why should you invest in a subclass of an aeroplane that already gives you all the amenities that first class gives you. I don’t see the necessity.”

Al Meer has a different perspective, claiming that the airline is committed to maintaining first class, and is well into developing a new product. As he explained:

“We wanted to combine the experience of flying commercial and flying on a private jet and develop something new. We are 70% to 80% ready. We are only finalizing colors and small touches, but hopefully we will be able to announce it very soon.”

Now, personally I’m happy to see Qatar Airways’ commitment to maintaining, and even growing, first class. However, I am a bit skeptical of the timeline here. Is the airline really 70-80% done with developing something, and it’s really just working on the finishes?

• Al Meer became CEO as of November 2023, so he has been in his role for around four months
• He claims that airline has completed a multi-month review of the business, and previously the airline wasn’t planning on maintaining first class
• He now wants to develop a first class that’s a hybrid between Qsuites and a private jet

Developing new world-class airline seats often takes several years, so the timeline here really isn’t adding up. You can’t be in your role for four months and do a review lasting several months, while also creating a new product from scratch that’s nearly done. So that raises a few possibilities:

• Is Al Meer fibbing with how far along the airline is with developing its new first class?
• Was Qatar Airways already working on a new first class under Al Baker, just secretly, and the airline hadn’t announced that?
• Is Qatar Airways just choosing an existing, generic first class product, so there’s not actually that much design needed?

Which planes will get Qatar Airways’ new first class?

As of now, we have no additional details about Qatar Airways’ new first class plans. For some context, currently Qatar Airways has long haul first class on two aircraft:

• All Airbus A380s, which the airline intended to retire during the pandemic, but brought back due to the dispute the company had with Airbus
• A few Boeing 777s, which Qatar Airways picked up from Cathay Pacific, so the airline just maintained the cabins installed on those jets

On top of that, the airline markets its forward cabin on many regional flights as first class, though in terms of seating, that’s truly business class.

On which planes could we see the new first class product introduced? The airline has up to 50 Boeing 777-9s on order, and this will eventually become Qatar Airways’ flagship aircraft. I think it’s safe to assume these are the planes that will primarily be getting first class.

Back in the day, Al Baker had first intended to install first class on these jets, and then backtracked. So it’s not surprising to see that decision reversed again.

Al Meer states that the company has put out an RFP (request for proposal) with both Airbus and Boeing for a new aircraft order. He’s promising a big order, but isn’t stating which part of the fleet is being refreshed. When it comes to wide body aircraft, Qatar Airways just has some outstanding Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 orders, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see those fleets grow further. However, I wouldn’t assume that those jets will necessarily feature first class.

Bottom line

Qatar Airways’ new CEO is changing things up at the oneworld airline. While former CEO Akbar Al Baker pledged to eliminate first class, new CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer has a different strategy, and plans to introduce a new first class product. Unfortunately we don’t have much information beyond that, so only time will tell how good this product will be, and when it will be introduced.

What do you make of Qatar Airways’ plans to introduce a new first class?