One of the next airlines to take delivery of the Airbus A380 is Qatar Airways, which plans to take delivery of their first three A380s in June. A couple of weeks ago Qatar Airways revealed that their first A380 destination will be in Europe, and that they hope to start service with it by the third quarter of the year.
Anyway, today at ITB Berlin, Qatar Airways finally revealed the interior of their new eight seat first class cabin, which will be located on the upper deck:
So it certainly does look nice and spacious, but hardly cutting edge, in my opinion. While the suites aren’t fully enclosed, they do look fairly private, since they have “shields” that go up around them.
It’s a huge improvement over their old first class, though.
Here’s the extent of the description of the new seat in the press release:
The new First Class A380 seat, revealed by Mr. Al Baker at a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Berlin, Mr Klaus Wowereit as Guest of Honour, features a 90-inch seat pitch, transforming into a fully flat bed, together with an expansive choice of entertainment options displayed on individual 19-inch television screens.
They’ve also revealed that the first Qatar Airways A380 destination will be London Heathrow, as of this summer:
Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “It is a landmark moment to see this fantastic new First Class A380 seat displayed here at ITB Berlin, the perfect event at which to announce such important innovations to our global audience. Operating on the Doha to London Heathrow route, this cabin will offer a new level of comfort for passengers traveling to the United Kingdom, who will also benefit from our Premium Terminal in Doha and the new Qatar Airways Premium Lounge in London Heathrow Terminal 4.
The real star of the plane is business class, which is in a reverse herringbone configuration, hands down making it the best A380 business class product of any airline. FlightGlobal has a picture of the new business class cabin (though says that the business class cabin is in a six-abreast configuration, which isn’t correct).
Can’t wait till they announce which flight will operate the A380 and as of when, so I can hopefully snag a seat.
What do you think of Qatar Airways’ new first class product?
(Tip of the hat to Henry)
Lucky, since you called out the Asiana A380 flight schedule perfectly I wish you would take a shot @ this one as well. I know Doha - LHR has few flights a day but in your assumption which flight would this replace?
@ AH -- My guess would be that it will replace one of the A340-600 frequencies. Beyond that I have no clue, though. As soon as I hear anything I'll be sure to post.
Hi does anybody now the names for the 3 Qatar A380 deliverd this year. There is a small name in english and arabic below the cockpit seen at Airbus/Hamburg, but on pictures it can not be read...thanks
Lucky, you may be right! We'll see later this year! By the way, I read this article from Bloomberg stating Qatar mainly plans medium-haul routes for the A380, at least for the time being.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-06/qatar-to-deploy-first-three-superjumbos-on-european-trunk-routes.html
To Clarify, @Josh - Well Done! Not to Matt.
@ Joey -- They haven't announced the full layout one way or another yet. Who knows, maybe they *will* have showers up there? You never know!
Since first class will be in the upper deck, that means it will have a lot of soace for the bathroom area. Do you know whetheri it will be like LH with two massive bathrooms with urinal, or like Thai with one bathroom for 8 passengers amd the other side as a lounge? If there was a shower i would imagine they would announce it in the press release. I consider DOH-LHR as a medium-haul flight so hopefully they will fly the A380 to Australia or the USA someday.
@Matt +1
F Seats seem to look similar to LH F seat but different color and details. J seat from the link looks nice (same as 787) which is the best J seats out there. I am disappointed with F seats cuz it does not seem cutting edge as Lucky said. No bar, no shower, no lounge, no duty free store, bowling, manicure, massage spa, etc. features added.
I definitely prefer the EK shower.
@Bill- I agree the cocoon thing is nice but I also find it slows down the Dom refills : )
@Matt Are you the same Matt who also posts troll comments on View From the Wing?
I definitely like the color scheme. Very elegant!
@Matt - Well Done!
Its an elegant first class cabin design. What do you prefer - an open area seat/cocoon or a suite? There are benefits to both. An open plan allows FAs to possibly provide more attention (like ANA) and really deliver the art of the soft product. It also allows you to socialize with others or people watch. However, suites shield you from others (and their farts) and sleep in private - but it is kind of...
Its an elegant first class cabin design. What do you prefer - an open area seat/cocoon or a suite? There are benefits to both. An open plan allows FAs to possibly provide more attention (like ANA) and really deliver the art of the soft product. It also allows you to socialize with others or people watch. However, suites shield you from others (and their farts) and sleep in private - but it is kind of isolating. Your China Southern experience clearly allowed FAs to "seal you away" from what you were not supposed to see and minimize their service to you.
@ Matt - Can we keep the bigotry to a minimum on a frequent flyer blog? The Qatari emir created the first pluralistic Arab television news service, al-Jazeera, which has had an enlivening effect on Arab-speaking populations everywhere. Qatar hasn't experienced domestic unrest or violence like so many other nearby countries in 2010-11, partly to the people's immense prosperity. The country supported the revolutions in Libya and Syria rather than siding with the dictators. Last...
@ Matt - Can we keep the bigotry to a minimum on a frequent flyer blog? The Qatari emir created the first pluralistic Arab television news service, al-Jazeera, which has had an enlivening effect on Arab-speaking populations everywhere. Qatar hasn't experienced domestic unrest or violence like so many other nearby countries in 2010-11, partly to the people's immense prosperity. The country supported the revolutions in Libya and Syria rather than siding with the dictators. Last year, the emir voluntarily stood down and gave power to his son - hardly democratic, but a peaceful abdication in a region that has never seen one. Qatar has advanced health care and education, and is one of America's few reliable allies in the Middle East, providing invaluable assistance in the Gulf War and the Iraq War. Yes, it's undemocratic. But, unless you're not going to fly Chinese airlines either, the only differentiating factor seems to be that Qatar is Muslim. Beware! The evil Muslims! Let's focus on the damn plane seats, please.
Is it just the lighting in this one link below? It looks a far cry from your photos.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/picture-qatar-unveils-new-first-class-with-a380-cabin-396630/
Emirates business on the A380 is much nicer and on par with some first class. Fully flat seat with an added pad for extra sleeping comfort, minibar, great monitor, space and privacy (the seats closer to the windows), lots of storage options, plus the bar on the rear.
Qatar...the official airline of the Muslim Brotherhood. Yes, seriously. Stop plugging their petro-dollar bought airline. You give them far more press than they deserve. You couldn't pay me to fly them. And where do all of their planes transit? Doha-- a nasty spit of sand where alcohol is taboo and women are covered from head to toe, Sounds like someone else's version of "first class"...certainly not mine.
Only flown 2 A380s (LH in F and Thai in Business), but I think Qatar's First looks pretty classy.
@ RakSiam -- Yep, apparently it's supposed to be open by then.
wow... gorgeous!
If it isn't Boeing, I'm not going....
Er wrong catch phrase, I meant to say, No Shower=No Power...
It does look nice!
will the new airport finally be open by then? if not, how many buses will it take to load/unload?