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In its recent schedule updates Qatar Airways has put though some pretty significant changes to the aircraft it proposes to use on a number of important routes. In some cases passengers may be pleasantly surprised but, in others, the news isn’t so good and there are definitely going to be disappointments.
The changes Qatar Airways has put though are too numerous to list out in full without putting the entire blog readership to sleep…..so I’m just going to highlight the changes that appear to be the most significant.
Doha – London
There are two changes to Qatar Airways’ London flights and the good news is that both are positive.
From 30 October 2016 flights QR015 & QR016 will see the 787-8 Dreamliner replaced with an Airbus A350 aircraft.
Neither aircraft has a First Class cabin and both aircraft offer the latest Qatar Airways Business Class seats so there’s no loss or gain on either of those counts.
Where there is a significant gain is on the number of Business Class seat available on the flight with the A350 offering over 60% more than the 787 (36 seats compared to just 22).
Economy Class passengers should see a benefit too as the A350’s rearmost cabin comes with seats that are 18″ wide as opposed to the claustrophobic 17″ wide seats on offer in the Dreamliner.
From 16 December 2016 a second A350 aircraft appears on the Doha to London route as flights QR001 & QR002 will see the 777-300ER swapped out.
Once again neither aircraft offers a First Class cabin so there’s no gain or loss on that count but the A350 does offer 6 fewer Business Class seats. That’s hardly much of a negative, however, as the A350’s Business Class cabin is a definite improvement over the cabin on the 777-300ER and offers a noticeably more comfortable experience.
Economy passengers should benefit from this aircraft swap as, like the 787, the 777-300ER offers a miserly 17″ of seat width compared to the 18″ on offer in the A350.
Passengers booked on these flights should check their reservations asap to ensure that they’re still happy with their seat allocations as they will have almost certainly changed.
Doha – Manchester
It’s mixed news for the Doha – Manchester route with the 787-8 Dreamliner now scheduled to continue operating the 16 weekly flights (an Airbus A330-300 had been scheduled to take over on 30 October).
The good news is for Business Class passengers who will now continue to have the fantastic 787-8 Business Class cabin……
…..as opposed to the old cabin on the A330-300 which offers angle-flat seating.
The bad news comes in the form of the Economy Class cabin where the A330-300 would have offered up to 2″ more seat pitch (leg room) and 0.5″ more seat width.
Passengers booked on these flights should check their reservations asap to ensure that they’re still happy with their seat allocations as they will have almost certainly changed.
Doha – Munich
The news isn’t the greatest for this route with the A350 that currently operates flights QR057 & QR058 being replaced by a 787-8 Dreamliner from 30 October 2016.
The excellent Business Cabin will still be available but the flights will now offer considerably fewer Business Class seats and Economy Class passengers will go from having 18″ of seat width to just 17″ – tie to go on that diet!
Passengers booked on these flights should check their reservations asap to ensure that they’re still happy with their seat allocations as they will have almost certainly changed.
Doha – Paris
From 16 December 2016 Qatar Airways will be replacing the A330-300 which operates flights QR037 & QR038 with an Airbus A350.
This version of the Qatar Airways A330-300 doesn’t operate with a First Class cabin so the introduction of the A350 won’t make any difference there….but the Business Class seats just got a whole lot more impressive.
30 angled-flat Business Class seats will be replaced by 36 lie-flat seats with all-aisle access and the Business Class seat with will be going up from 21″ to 22″ as well.
In Economy Class it’s a win or a loss depending on what’s more important to you. The A350 will offer 0.5″ more seat width but, at the same time, will offer 1″-2″ less seat pitch.
Passengers booked on these flights should check their reservations asap to ensure that they’re still happy with their seat allocations as they will have almost certainly changed.
Doha – Cape Town
From 30 October 2016 this route will see a 777-300ER replace the 787 Dreamliner that currently flies between the two cities.
The Business Class cabin will still have lie-flat seating but will no longer offer all-aisle access and will be decidedly older than what was on offer in the Dreamliner. The seats will still be perfectly ok (it’s not like the aircraft offers angled-flat seats) but for passengers who booked the flight expecting the shiny new Dreamliner this will be a disappointment.
In Economy Class things aren’t too bad as both aircraft offer a paltry 17″ of seat width but the 777 offers up to 33″ of seat pitch so passengers should have noticeably more leg room.
Doha – Madrid
From 16 March 2017 Qatar Airways is bringing its Airbus A350 to Madrid.
The Airbus will replace the 787 Dreamliner that currently operates flights QR147 and QR148 and this will see the flights benefit from an increase in the number of Business Class seats (22 to 36) and will see Economy Class passengers gain an 1″ in seat width as well.
Doha – Bangkok
Qatar Airways no longer plans to start A380 service to Bangkok from 30 October 2016.
Until 23 November 2016 all flights will continue to be operated by 777-300ER aircraft at which point flights QR830 & QR831 will get 5x/week A380 service.
Planned A380 service for flights QR836 & QR833 starting 1 January 2017 is unaffected.
Bottom Line
If you have seat assignments on these or any other Qatar Airways flights you should check your reservations as soon as you can. No two aircraft have the same seating arrangements so it’s very likely that the seat you chose a few months ago isn’t the one you’re currently set to fly in.
[HT: Routes Online]
Featured Image: Tony Hisgett via Flickr
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