Anticipation Builds for the Unveiling of Qatar Airways’ Super Business Class
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APEX Insight: With an unveiling expected in the near future, Qatar Airways executives are building momentum for the airline’s proprietary super business-class seat. The launch will coincide with the merging of first-class and business-class cabins, a decision that will differentiate Qatar Airways from its Gulf rivals. The airline promises that the bespoke seat will be as transformative as British Airways’ lie-flat seat, which debuted almost 20 years ago.
Speaking at a press conference in March, Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker tantalized media with details of the airline’s patented “super business-class seat.” The ambitious upgrade will likely see the seat debut on Qatar’s Boeing 777-300ER fleet in December, followed by A350s and then a sweeping three-aircraft per month fleet-wide retrofit program.
Qatar has since made one of its largest aircraft orders, signing a deal with Boeing worth up to $18.6 billion for 30 787-9 Dreamliners, 10 777-300ERs and 60 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The airline will also be the launch customer for Boeing’s 777X aircraft, scheduled for first delivery in 2020.
According to Al Baker, the super business-class seat will bring first-class luxury to the cabin, obsolescing the need for two front-of-cabin classes. The approach is a shift away from the “apartment in the sky” luxury offered by Gulf competitor Etihad, and pits the airline against Emirates, which is also planning to unveil 777 business-class seats in November. Emirates also plans to begin flying “fully enclosed rooms” in its first-class cabins by the end of 2017. In the US, United’s introduction of its international Polaris class includes a similar elision of first-class cabins in favor of an enhanced business-class experience. Qatar Airways will continue to fly its first-class service only on its Airbus A380s.
Speaking to Australian Business Traveller, Al Baker said, “I really feel that private suites become a bit claustrophobic, so when we are designing our new business-class product we are making sure it is not claustrophobic.” The proprietary design will be exclusive to Qatar Airways and will possibly feature a double bed for middle seats. “We have decided to go for semi-privacy; in the cabin concept people slide the two doors and it becomes a cabin. It is already semi-closed and then it becomes fully closed, because people want additional privacy when they are sleeping,” Al Baker added.
According to Rossen Dimitrov, senior vice-president of Customer Experience, Qatar Airways, Al Baker has been deeply involved in the ground-up design process. “Every finish you will see, every detail, every light shining on that seat is our design,” he told attendees at Future Travel Experience Global in Las Vegas this September. “When it comes to seat designs, we don’t just take [preexisting seats] and customize. We design the seats from scratch.”
Qatar’s decision to create its own bespoke product is a change from recent seat unveilings from Virgin Australia and American Airlines, where market-ready seats from B/E Aerospace were customized for the airlines’ business-class and premium economy cabins, respectively.
“We like to create our own experience,” says Dimitrov. “I was there from day one when we came up with the concept, and to see it come to light, it’s very exciting,” he says. Asked if he thinks Qatar’s new seat will be as transformative as British Airways’ introduction of lie-flat seats in 1999, Dimitrov responded with a flat-out “Yes.”