Originally Posted by
scubadu
I'm well aware of who the largest shareholder is. Absolutely no idea what you believe that has to do with the pricing model BA uses for seat assignments, which was in play long before that Qatar government took an equity potion in IAG.
Your comment was about "filling airplanes" while ignoring that BA thrives on capturing London-originating traffic, while Doha competes as a connecting hub. They're completely different models.
Finally, FT is just a completely eccentric little bizarro world that obsesses about this stuff, but like it or not, there is absolutely a market for a "lite" business class product. There are people willing to pay more for a comfortable seat on a long haul flight but they could care less about lounges, etc.
Setting aside your rant about how much cheaper BA is (and it's often not for people not based in Europe), it's simply not equivalent to competitor's products. Club Suite is starting to help, but there's a reason people with pay $X for Product A, but not $Y for Product B. Any discussion of pricing models can't ignore that.
And lastly, had you bothered to read the posts in this thread, most of us (including myself) have bought Qatar's lite fares. What is disheartening is that today's lite fares are priced like yesterday's classic fares.