A Look Inside Qatar Airways’ First-of-Its-Kind A350 XWB
Jeff Edwards December 29, 2014
Qatar Airways gave media and dignitaries a first look inside the airline’s new A350 XWB during a ceremony at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, France. Qatar is the first carrier to take delivery of this next-generation aircraft.
At a ceremony marking the very first delivery of the Airbus A350 AWB commercial airliner, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker highlighted the airline’s meteoric rise and declared this the “year of the fleet.” Al Baker took an opportunity at the fanfare-laden event to boast about the newest member of the Qatar fleet.
“Today marks a momentous occasion in the history of our airline,” said Al Baker. “Not only are we welcoming a new aircraft type into the Qatar Airways fleet, but as global launch customer for the A350 XWB, we are receiving the newest and most modern aircraft that the world will see for at least another decade.”
Photographs of the new Airbus posted by Flightglobal help to make it clear why Qatar Airways is so enthusiastic about the new plane. The two-class cabin design features 36, all aisle adjacent, Business Class seats, with 80-inch lie-flat beds and 17-inch HD video screens. The 247 Economy seats are each 18-inches wide with a seat pitch of up to 32-inches, each seat featuring a 10.6-inch video monitor.
Because Qatar is the inaugural launch customer for the latest Airbus, the airline expects to maintain a competitive and technological advantage over the competition for some time, noting, “Qatar Airways will be the only airline to fly this aircraft type for the foreseeable future.”
Qatar Airways expects to take delivery of a total of 80 new A350 XWB aircraft over the next several years.
The first new A350 XWB will be used for service between Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) and Hamad International Airport (DOH) starting in January.
[Photos: Flightglobal]
@paulwuk if you haven't noticed Y+/PEY isn't a concept that middle eastern carriers believe in. But to be fair the QR A350 Y really isn't bad in comparison to other Y classes.... 18" seat width is pretty generous in this day and age especially compared to the 787.
Shame, still the exorberant luxury of business, or the cattle of economy. Where's the Y+ cabin with the pitch about 40", an extra couple of inches on the width for a bit of space away from your neighbour, but without needing 4 times the room (and cost) that business class does?