Qatar Airways to start all-premium flights on medium-haul routes
DOHA - Qatar Airways is expected to start all-premium flights on some of its medium-haul routes, Akbar Al Baker, CEO, recently said at the ITB Berlin event.
An airline official told The Peninsula yesterday, specific routes are yet to be determined. The all-premium flights could encompass destinations within just the GCC or other parts of the Middle East served by Qatar Airways. The flights should be introduced by the end of this year.
An all-premium flight would have First and Business Class seating arrangements with Economy being dispensed with. The airline is believed to be on the lookout for 100-seater aircraft, such as those manufactured by Bombardier of Canada or Brazilian plane maker Embrare.
The airline is believed to be in the market for smaller aircraft, mainly to serve routes within the GCC. It has multiple frequencies to all points in the region and flights to destinations like Dubai and Bahrain are chockfull, especially on the weekends.
Virgin Atlantic had been looking at introducing all-premium flights on some of its transatlantic sectors but recently shelved the idea.
Airlines who went into business as all-premium start-ups have largely failed, with the likes of MaxJet having fallen by the wayside. With oil prices at an all-time high, carriers like Silverjet, which recently started service from London to Dubai, have an uphill task on their hands.
Airlines like British Airways and Singapore Airlines, have made a decent fist of it with all-premium-class in certain sectors and Qatar Airways is aiming to do the same, albeit with smaller aircraft, at least at the outset.
Meanwhile, the airline said yesterday its participation in ITB Berlin was a success. A panel discussion on climate change saw the CEO stress on Qatar Airways' environmental drive through its move to use gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology to power aircraft.
"Over the years, we have used the occasion at ITB Berlin to showcase our latest products, announce our newest routes and present our superb Arab hospitality. And this year was no exception as we announced our new routes to Guangzhou and Houston as well as unveil details of our summer capacity expansion," he said.
The airline will be flying to Guangzhou starting March 31 and flights to Houston will commence on November 10, three times a week. The frequency will be increased from December.
The Houston route will be operated with Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, allowing for an approximately 17-hour non-stop flight from Qatar to Texas.
By Rabin Gupta
The Peninsula 2008
