Qatar Airways announced its highly-anticipated new business-class seats on Monday, revealing the next iteration of its nearly decade-old but still industry-leading Qsuite product, and TPG was there to get a first look.
During a packed event at the Farnborough International Airshow outside London, the airline’s new CEO Badr Mohammed al-Meir lifted the curtain and boasted about the longevity of the current product.
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“We are happy and sad at the same time,” Al-Meir said. “It’s nice to know that something we developed years ago is still the benchmark. And sad because we were expecting someone else to come along and raise the benchmark”.
The new seats will be installed on Qatar’s Boeing 777X aircraft, which are currently undergoing a lengthy certification process before they can enter service.
Ultimately, the new seats are incremental upgrades rather than revolutionary changes. That’s not surprising, as Qatar’s native Qsuite still wins awards, including TPG’s 2023 Best Business Class award.
Upgraded Qsuite
The new seats take advantage of the 777X’s spacious interior, with more shoulder room, legroom and storage areas than current production.
Partitions between Qsuites in the middle of the plane can be removed to join up to four individual suites, geared towards families or other groups traveling together.
For the first time, however, the inflight entertainment screens that double as partitions between seats with windows can be pushed out of the way, allowing two passengers to sit facing each other – say, for a meal or to chat. This works because the window seats alternate between facing forward and backward.
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Those screens, meanwhile, have been upgraded to 4K OLED monitors. Compared to the manual doors on current production, the partitions around the suite are slightly taller, and the doors are motorized. The seat also has a handful of ambient lighting options that can be controlled with a touchscreen remote.
Another upgrade revolves around storage, which is a common complaint you’ll hear about an existing Qsuite product.
Two drawers are built into the suite, providing space to place items such as headphones, a laptop or tablet, your phone, a book or wallet, or any other odds and ends that clutter your space during the flight.
One of the drawers is actually lockable — there’s a keypad to let passengers choose a code, like a hotel safe.
There’s also a “nook” next to the seat where you can keep a small backpack with a dedicated water bottle compartment.
Ultimately it is not a revolutionary new product. But that’s because the original Qsuite already was, and continues to be. Instead, it’s a simple upgrade to go with the new fleet type.
The 777X is expected to be certified and delivered in late 2025 or 2026, so don’t expect to see the new Qsuite on your next flight!
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