Qatar Airways’ New Business Class Plans For 787, A380, And 777X

Qatar Airways’ New Business Class Plans For 787, A380, And 777X

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Since Qatar Airways’ Qsuites were introduced, the biggest question has been when the rest of the fleet will get these seats. After all, once you experience Qsuites it’s tough to go back to any other kind of business class. While we’ve known Qatar Airways’ general plan for installing Qsuites throughout their longhaul fleet since last March, the airline has just provided a more detailed roadmap of what we can expect, per AirlineRatings.

I wouldn’t necessarily take all of the below as fact given that this stuff remains highly subject to change, but it gives us a good sense of what we can expect as of now.

All 777s will have Qsuites within 18 months

We’ve known all along that all Qatar Airways 777s will feature Qsuites, and Qatar Airways hopes to have the entire 777 fleet reconfigured within 18 months, by the middle of 2019. That seems quite optimistic to me (given that they have 57 of these planes), but I hope they stick to the timeline.


Qatar Airways’ old 777 business class

787s and A380s are getting modified Qsuites

Qatar Airways plans to install a modified version of Qsuites on their 787s and A380s. Why not the full product? Because the cabin on the 787 and the cabin on the upper deck of the A380 are narrower than on the 777, so they can’t practically install the seats there without reducing the width of the suites. Expect something that is as private as Qsuites, though you likely won’t have the option of forming a four person suite in the center of the cabin.


Qatar Airways’ current A380 business class

We can expect 787s to be reconfigured starting next year, and expect A380s to be reconfigured starting in 2020. At that point Qatar Airways may also slightly update their A380 first class, though I wouldn’t expect too much.


Qatar Airways’ current A380 first class

All A350s are getting Qsuites

Qatar Airways is the global launch customer of the A350-1000 (just as they were for the A350-900), and they plan on taking delivery of their first such plane in about a week. This plane will come with Qsuites, as will all A350-1000s being delivered in the future.

The A350-900s should be reconfigured with Qsuites at some point in the future, though no exact timeline has been provided for that.


Qatar Airways’ current A350 business class

The 777Xs are getting modified Qsuites

In 2020 Qatar Airways will take delivery of their first 777X. Qatar Airways plans to offer Qsuites on these planes, though expects to introduce a seat that’s at least 22% lighter. This of course helps keep the weight of the plane down and reduce fuel burn, though as passengers we shouldn’t notice much of a difference.

Bottom line

Qatar Airways has an ambitious plan for reconfiguring their fleet with new business class seats. While I’m not terribly confident they’ll stick to their timeline, I’m impressed by their goals. Qatar Airways must be one of the first ever airlines to remove reverse herringbone seats from a plane because they consider them to be outdated.

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  1. JC Guest

    Hi Lucky, why won’t QR put the QSuites on the lower level of the A380? While the upgraded A380 First Class seats (I’m thinking of a better version of SQ’s upgraded Suites plus EK’s shower rooms) can be installed at the upper level. QR can also finally introduce their own premium economy class to be installed at the upper level along with some economy class seats as well.

  2. RG Guest

    I booked a flight to May trip Paris months ago and was very focus on selecting Qsuites flights. I was excited to book the window seats for myself an other half. I had also made another check in Dec 2017. In Jan 2018, I checked on flights again and was surprised that they had changed all 777 from DOHA to Paris to A380 for flights on Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon. Theoretically, they only have Qsuites for Tues and...

    I booked a flight to May trip Paris months ago and was very focus on selecting Qsuites flights. I was excited to book the window seats for myself an other half. I had also made another check in Dec 2017. In Jan 2018, I checked on flights again and was surprised that they had changed all 777 from DOHA to Paris to A380 for flights on Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon. Theoretically, they only have Qsuites for Tues and Wed flights. That's a super bummer!
    This is not the first time Qatar changed planes without informing me! Not even an email.
    I had been taking Qatar for the last 3 years, and it had always been giving me stressed over the changes without informing me and screw up my seating arrangements.

  3. schar Guest

    I just hope they retrofit the 777 out of LAX with QSuites SOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!

  4. chaz Guest

    Wow, going by the number of articles this is an extreme Qatar Airways news day from OMAAT

  5. Terence Gold

    Would the intention of replacing reverse herringbone seats with Qsuites be saving space for more seats in J/Y?

  6. The nice Paul Diamond

    Anyone still think the new J seat that Lufthansa *might* introduce starting from, er, 2020 makes them a 5* airline?

    Also intriguing about the 787: is that plane just a bit too narrow for where the marketplace is going?

    Full marks to Qatar: most of us just assumed they were blowing smoke when they said their new J class would be world-beating. It clearly is. And if they can achieve even close to this roll-out, they’re going to take a lot of market share.

  7. tony Guest

    is anything known what routes the first A350 with Qsuites will be used?
    did not hear anything about it

  8. M Simons Member

    Would be just as happy if they dropped the monitors at all seats, and just provide decent wifi if people want to view the outside cameras.
    Always turn them off as soon as I can.

  9. BrooklynBoy Gold

    If they manage to do this, United will be even more of a laughing-stock for its horrendously slow Polaris conversion.

  10. Phillip Diamond

    14 already sport the Q Suites - how many are new and how many of those have actually been reconfigured? That leaves 3/4 of aircraft. Given that they were first introduced about 7 months ago, it is ambitious but not unachievable! They probably also have flexibility in the overall utilisation to allow comfortable retrofitting!

  11. RF Diamond

    How's United doing with the outdated Polaris retrofit?

  12. David W Community Ambassador

    It's amazing that QR is planning to reconfigure 57 777s in 18 months when United took 14 months to reconfigure 4 767s

  13. Dave Guest

    @N probably sometime in the next 18 months.

  14. N Guest

    @Lucky do we know when LAX might finally get upgraded products?

  15. Richard Allen New Member

    They could sell the old seats to BA, that would be a massive upgrade from their present seats.

  16. Varun Susarla Member

    A320? A330? A340?
    Thought as much :(

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The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

JC Guest

Hi Lucky, why won’t QR put the QSuites on the lower level of the A380? While the upgraded A380 First Class seats (I’m thinking of a better version of SQ’s upgraded Suites plus EK’s shower rooms) can be installed at the upper level. QR can also finally introduce their own premium economy class to be installed at the upper level along with some economy class seats as well.

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RG Guest

I booked a flight to May trip Paris months ago and was very focus on selecting Qsuites flights. I was excited to book the window seats for myself an other half. I had also made another check in Dec 2017. In Jan 2018, I checked on flights again and was surprised that they had changed all 777 from DOHA to Paris to A380 for flights on Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon. Theoretically, they only have Qsuites for Tues and Wed flights. That's a super bummer! This is not the first time Qatar changed planes without informing me! Not even an email. I had been taking Qatar for the last 3 years, and it had always been giving me stressed over the changes without informing me and screw up my seating arrangements.

0
schar Guest

I just hope they retrofit the 777 out of LAX with QSuites SOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!

0
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