Nuff Said

About 9 years ago, someone who I'd never previously met, said, after 15 minutes of talking with me, that I was the most cynical and laid back person that he had ever met. I do have a sense of humour, and can be quite witty at times.

Seriously, as one of QR regular Manchester passengers, I'd love to see 787's on the route, and am in a position to be able to have a try at booking on the first MAN flight to be operated by one.

Dreamliners on the Manchester's will make economic sense as the airline does have difficulty filling the C30 Y275 configuration 333's that currently ply the route. I've flown it umpteen times and most have been only moderately well loaded. The lower capacity, coupled with reduced operating costs, make it a very attractive and viable proposition.

QatarA340

The 787s will have 22 J seats and 220 Y seats approx, so its a significant reduction in capacity.

Nuff Said

That's far more viable for the route, and a level that should enable a twice daily service to be economical.

delta154

Whilst the Dreamliner is a better fit for the route, don't be fooled on how a route is performing based on what you can see. Qatar makes a ton of money on the bit you cannot see, the cargo. That is part of the reason an A319LR was a definate no-go for Manchester. (I know range is a slight issue too, but, it was mostly lack of cargo which sealed the decision)

Also, as reported elsewhere, loads on both QR flights have been in in the 80-90% avarage range for 2-3 months now, reflected in the fact the slightly larger A330-300 is used more than the A330-200 lately too.

Nuff Said

[QUOTE=delta154;17935760]Whilst the Dreamliner is a better fit for the route, don't be fooled on how a route is performing based on what you can see. Qatar makes a ton of money on the bit you cannot see, the cargo. That is part of the reason an A319LR was a definate no-go for Manchester. (I know range is a slight issue too, but, it was mostly lack of cargo which sealed the decision)

Also, as reported elsewhere, loads on both QR flights have been in in the 80-90% avarage range for 2-3 months now, reflected in the fact the slightly larger A330-300 is used more than the A330-200 lately too.[/QUOTE

Fair point regarding the freight. I recently commented about the possibility that NEO 320's would probaly also reach Manchester, but at the expense of the 2 tonnes of additional freight that they will be able to lift if not operating to the limit of their range.

I'm flying Manchester-Doha in a few weeks time, and the aircraft type has just, today, been reduced from a C30 Y275 333 to a C24 Y236 332.

Is the passenger load factor data that you quote available publically?

delta154

The data I have quoted is off the MAN internal system, which, at the end of the day has quotes for the total pax load that boarded/deboarded the aircraft on that particular day, eg QR 41 254 pax, QR42 205 pax.

Obviously that format does not give fare breakdown, or even class of travel, but, helps give a small indication of loads.

I do not see the system myself, its other people who quote the figures. They usually quote them for the majority of long haul flights ex MAN as well as others.
Whilst I do not see the info first hand, I have no reason to suspect the figures are incorrect.

There are the CAA official stats too http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?ca...geid=3&sglid=3

and these are:

Dec 2011- 25,936 (209 pax per flight*)
Nov 2011- 20841 (173 pax per flight)
Oct 2011- 21963 (177 pax per flight)
Sep 2011- 22758 (189 pax per flight)

* pax per flight is average based on number of rotations per day (arrival and departure), so, 4x30/31 = 120/124 movements per month. Jan 2012 figures are not published yet (usually published around 14th day of next month)

Whilst these do show a lower load average, they are an average so some days will see loads of say, 90% but then another flight may only see a load of 60%.

Hope that helps.

Nuff Said

Yes, its interesting. Thanks for posting.

jALIg

the biz seats in the 777 is nice. But i dont know if it can beat the seat in Oman Airs A330

razMJ

I can see that the 787-8 is a significant reduction in capacity from the A333, but as long as they keep it as one of the double dailies, and keep 14flights a week for the whole year instead of winter 14 and summer 10, there wouldn't be much of a year-round reduction in capacity.
But I have to admit, after they introduced double dailies last year, I expected them to increase capacity by stepping one of them up to a 77L, rather than decrease it or keep it the same. Unusual of a growing gulf airline.

InternationalLiving

This seems more decisive that LHR will be the first route:
Al Baker Interview

It'll be great to see the new seats he seems so keen on... or even better, sit in them!

Only 42 business seats in the A380 though... that'll do wonders for availability! This also implies either an obscene First class, or very luxurious economy: at 517 seats, most A380s have more like 90 business-class seats!

CAlex

New press release, confirming LHR as the first long-haul destination for the Dreamliner. Looking forward for news from Berlin this week...

deasine

Teaser:



(via Qatar Airways Facebook Page)

CAlex

already there: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Look forward to more images and details.

InternationalLiving

Official press release: http://www.qatarairways.com/english_...lease_20120307

Very unimpressed that they went with 3-3-3 in economy rather than 2-4-2 like ANA did.

"The slim-line seat design set at a pitch of 32 inches, together with a 16.9-inch width, offers more personal space than ever before."
Right, well, the A330 has a width of 17.5" (with 2 middle armrests), and the 777 18.9". So, please tell me, how will I be able to eat my in-flight meal if I'm sitting in the middle seat???

"Featuring one less seat per row than competitors on other wide body aircraft, the Economy seats promise to offer a totally different travel experience."
And this is called spin, aka stretching the truth. Clearly, the 777 or A380 are much wider aircraft...

For further comparison, even a US Airways 737 has a seat width of 17"

Waiting for more details on business seats but I'm not so keen on herringbone formation, its not ideal if you're travelling with someone else...

JFKflyer26

I totally agree. I was not expecting such a horrible economy class on QR. Also, have you noticed how the business class seats cover half the window?!