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While I’m up a mountain and with almost no internet access I’m having to catch up with the news on a less regular basis than I’d ideally like to…..but news is news so here are some of the stories that have appeared over the past few days that you may or may not have seen.
Qatar Airways Registers A New 24-Help Twitter Account
Some airlines do Twitter very well and contacting a Twitter team can often yield results a lot quicker than if you contact the airline via email or, if you’re going to go old-school, by phone.
Qatar Airways is the latest airline to separate out the support element of its Twitter team from the side that broadcasts the latest news, updates and promotions that the airline offers.
The new Twitter account is @QRsupport, it will be manned 24/7 and is specifically there to help customers with Qatar Airways related issues.
The existing Twitter account (@QatarAirways) will continue to be used to keep flyers up to date with everything else related to the airline – don’t expect help/support from this team as that’s no longer their purpose in life 🙂
It will be interesting to see how well this works as, if I remember correctly, Delta attempted to do this but ended up amalgamating all its Twitter accounts back into one handle after customers kept on messaging the non-support Twitter team with requests for help.
Singapore Airlines New A380s May Be Delayed
According to AUSBT Singapore Airlines may be facing a delay with its new Airbus A380s which will be delivered with all new First Class Suites…although I’m not as convinced of the delay as AUSBT appears to be.
The story says that, when AUSBT approached Singapore Airlines for a comment about the delivery date for the airline’s first new A380, the replies that came back said:
we are not able to provide a specific date at this point
and…
the first aircraft from the next batch of A380s is due for delivery within the current financial year.
Singapore Airlines’ financial year runs from 1 April through 31 March and AUSBT appears to have used that to make the leap to the fact that the new A380s may not be flying until March 2018 (as opposed to October 2017 – the current expected delivery date). Its even using this information to claim that Singapore Airlines has “confirmed” this.
Singapore Airlines A380 at Hong Kong International Airport
Personally I see this as a bit of stretch.
All the airline has apparently done is to say that it will not offer a specific delivery date and that it still expects the aircraft to be delivered in its current financial year – October 2017 is as much in the current financial year as March 2018 so I’m not sure Singapore Airlines has “confirmed” anything.
Sure, the A380s may be delayed (they also may not be) but I haven’t heard about anything that Singapore Airlines has said that would confirm that March 2018 may be when we first see the airline’s new aircraft (and therefore the new cabins).
Get more details on the new Singapore Airlines A380 via this link.
ANA Has Opened A Star Wars Kids Area At Tokyo Haneda
ANA has a pretty close association with the Star Wars franchise and it already has a number of its aircraft painted in honor of various Star Wars characters.
There’s the R2-D2 aircraft:
There’s the C3PO:
And there’s another aircraft painted as one of the characters from the latest re-boot of the franchise (I couldn’t care less what this Disneyfied character is called!)
Now ANA has opened up a new area inside its Tokyo Haneda lounge (T2) which has been decorated in honor of the Star Wars universe.
This is what the entrance to the new area looks like according to the ANA press release:
This section of the ANA lounge apparently includes Star Wars themed entertainment, Star Wars themed upholstery on the seats and benches and even a Star Wars slide (I’m guessing I’m to big to have a go on that!).
Here’s what the wall design looks like:
And here’s the sticker kids will be given when they enter (is it wrong that I want one?!)
Qatar Airways QSuites – Paris Date May Now Be Known
If you don’t know what the QSuites are follow this link for more information.
London was the first destination to get the QSuites treatment from Qatar Airways back in June and we’ve known for a while that Paris and New York will be the next two destinations to get the QSuites.
Qatar Airways QSuite
We got a hint as to when the QSuites will appear on the New York route at the end of June but, up until, now we haven’t had any indication as to when the new product will appear on the Paris route.
While there hasn’t been any official announcement from Qatar Airways, OMAAT has reported that the airline has loaded the QSuites seat map on one of its 3 daily Paris flights starting on 23 September 2017.
Seat Map per ExpertFlyer
For the avoidance of doubt here’ a seat map for a Qatar Airways 777-300ER which doesn’t yet offer the QSuites:
Seat Map per ExpertFlyer
Here’s the full Doha – Paris schedule for September:
QR41 DOH 01:20 – 07:15 CDG (Daily 777-300 service) **QSuites**
QR39 DOH 07:30 – 13:25 CDG (Daily A380 service)
QR37 DOH 15:00 – 20:55 CDG (Daily A350 service)
QR42 CDG 09:10 – 16:35 DOH (Daily 777-300 service) **QSuites**
QR40 CDG 16:05 – 23:30 DOH (Daily A380 service)
QR38 CDG 22:25 – 05:50+1 day DOH (Daily A350 service)
It’s entirely possible that this date will shift depending on how quickly Qatar Airways takes delivery of its refurbished 777’s and what delays are encountered (the aircraft are being refurbished at a rate of one per month right now) so don’t make any plans specifically around this date….but at least we now have an indication of when Qatar Airways hopes to offer the QSuites on its Doha-Paris route.
You’re brave taking a snipe at the reliability of AUSBT! The big boss man won’t be happy if he sees this. My mildly cynical comment on his site was immediately deleted for breaking the ‘rules’. i.e. not agreeing with what he says!