The NEW Qsuite from Qatar Airways will be unveiled in July – and First Class is returning too
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When a new CEO takes the reigns they often re-evaluate their predecessor’s choices. Sometimes they continue on the same path and at other times they upend decisions.
In the case of Badr Mohammed Al Meer, who took over as CEO of Qatar Airways in October last year, it is a bit of both.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC last week, his first since taking over, he re-iterated the continuing progress of Qsuite 2.0 whilst also reversing Akbar’s decision to kill First Class.
Qsuite 2.0 is coming this year
The original Qsuite business class suite was introduced in 2017 and was one of the first to feature a door.
It was launched to critical acclaim – including from us – and remains the best business class suite out there. It is exceptionally spacious, private and – uniquely – can be combined to create a joint space for a group of two or four. And, of course, you can use Avios to fly it.
There was just one problem.
Optimised for the full 5.6m wide fuselage of the A350, for which Qatar Airways was a launch customer, the seat is too big for Qatar’s smaller widebodies including its fleet of Boeing 787s.
It is for that reason that Qatar Airways still has a remarkably inconsistent business class experience, with the A380 and Boeing 787s featuring the older Super Diamond seat introduced way back in 2011 and which we reviewed here.
Qsuite is also said to be one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest, business class suite out there. This makes it much less fuel efficient to fly and increases operational costs. There was room for improvement.
As early as 2019, Akbar was talking about a second-generation Qsuite product, dubbed ‘Qsuite Phase 2’ or ‘Qsuite 2.0’ that would launch with the arrival of Qatar’s 787-9 fleet in 2021. Unfortunately, the seat was not ready and those aircraft launched with the Adient Ascent seat, which we reviewed here.
Despite being a stop-gap solution, Qatar Airways was able to customise the seat extensively to the point that it is almost (but not quite) comparable with Qsuite. It is exceptionally comfortable.
It now appears that the airline is ready to lift the curtain on Qsuite 2.0, with Badr Mohammed Al Meer announcing that it will be revealed at the Farnborough Airshow in July.
In the past few years Qatar Airways has been a major exhibitor at Farnborough. At the last show, in 2022, it brought three aircraft including a Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and a Qatar Executive Gulfstream jet. You can read Rob’s interview with Akbar Al Baker from the event here.
It will be interesting to see how Qatar Airways chooses to launch the new Qsuite. Will it be simply as a seat model on a stand in the Qatar Airways chalet, or will it bring an aircraft with a full cabin? Knowing Qatar Airway’s flare for the dramatic, I suspect it could be the latter.
What will Qatar Airways Qsuite 2.0 look like?
No further details about the new seat were given during the interview.
At this point it is anybody’s guess what the second generation Qsuite looks like. However, it is widely believed to be a custom product rather than an off-the-shelf solution.
Based on the limitations of the existing Qsuite, we know there will be a few changes:
- it will be (marginally) narrower, so as to fit on narrower wide bodies such as the 787 and potentially the A380 Upper Deck
- it will be likely be lighter thanks to increased use of advanced materials, to reduce fuel consumption and cost
Any business class seat launching in 2024 must also feature the latest tech, including large 4K screens, Bluetooth pairing, wireless charging and USB-C cables. All of these are practically a shoe-in on Qsuite 2.0, and are indeed already available on Qatar’s Premium Suite on the 787-9s.
What isn’t clear is whether the seat will maintain Qsuite’s unique layout with quad seating in the middle pairs. This allows four people to ‘share’ a single space, pictured above.
Whatever it looks like, it would be good to see Qatar Airways commit to a refurbishment program of existing aircraft. Whilst Qsuite is fantastic, it only graces a small portion of the fleet and almost anyone connecting through Doha is also likely to experience one of Qatar’s older seats. The contrast between Qsuite, with its doors and high walls, couldn’t be greater from the open-plan seats on the A380.
First Class will return
If Badr Mohammed Al Meer is continuing Akbar’s legacy with the continued development of Qsuite 2.0, he is ripping it up when it comes to First Class.
Believing Qsuite to be better than many competitor’s First Class products, the airline’s First Class cabins were on the brink of extinction. The phase out was virtually complete until Akbar brought back some of the A380 fleet after covid to cope with the surging demand for travel.
This decision kept First Class alive – at least whilst the A380s were still flying – and Rob reviewed it back in 2016.
Badr Mohammed Al Meer clearly doesn’t feel the same way. “Based on the demand from certain sectors, we see a high demand for First Class, and as such, have decided to introduce a newly-designed First Class cabin unique to Qatar Airways.”
Qatar is “70 to 80 per cent ready and are only finalising colours.” He hopes to unveil it “soon”.
This new First Class product sounds a bit further away than Qsuite 2.0. My best guess is that it is being designed for the Boeing 777X, of which Qatar Airways has 74 on order. These will eventually become the airline’s flagship once the A380 fleet is retired.
Their size and capacity mean they are a natural fit for a First Class product, with many other airlines (including British Airways) also designing a new First Class for the aircraft. With these planes arriving no earlier than late 2025 or 2026 at the earliest, there’s still some time before those seats will be available.
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