DOHA, Qatar – Qatar Airways was pleased to wrap up 2020 with the delivery of its 53^rd Airbus A350 on the final day of the year. The national carrier of the State of Qatar is the largest operator of Airbus A350 aircraft with 34 A350-900 and 19 A350-1000, reaffirming its position as the ideal choice for environmentally conscious long-haul passengers. The A350-1000 is fitted with the airline’s multi award-winning Business Class seat, Qsuite, and will operate on strategic routes to and from Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we continue to invest in our fleet, operating the youngest, most fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft in the skies. This strategic investment in sustainable twin-engine aircraft has enabled us to continue flying during the most challenging year in aviation’s history, helping take over 3.1 million people home since the start of the pandemic. As global travel recovers, our passengers can rely on us to fly greener and smarter with more flights to more destinations via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport.”

Environmentally conscious passengers can travel with the reassurance that Qatar Airways continuously monitors the market to assess both passenger and cargo demand to ensure it operates the most efficient aircraft on each route. Rather than being forced to fly oversized aircraft due to limited aircraft options, reducing the flexibility for passengers to travel when they want, Qatar Airways has a variety of sustainable aircraft it can choose from to offer more flights with the right capacity in each market. Qatar Airways is fully utilising its fleet of 53 A350 aircraft to more than 45 destinations in the airline’s network, including Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Sao Paolo and Singapore.

Passengers travelling on-board Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 can enjoy:

• The widest cabin body of any class with larger windows creating an extra spacious feel
• The widest seats of any aircraft in its category with generous room in all classes
• Advanced air system technology including HEPA filters, which deliver optimal cabin air quality, renewing air every two to three minutes for more comfort and less fatigue
• LED mood lighting which mimic a natural sunrise and sunset to help reduce the effects of jet lag
• The quietest cabin of any twin-aisle aircraft that includes a draft-free air circulation system resulting in a low ambient cabin noise level for a more peaceful journey

Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has grounded its fleet of Airbus A380 as it is not environmentally justifiable to operate such a large, four-engine aircraft in the current market. The airline’s internal benchmark compared the A380 to the A350 on routes from Doha to Guangzhou, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris and Sydney. On a typical one-way flight, the airline found the A350 aircraft saved a minimum of 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide per block hour compared to the A380. The analysis found that the A380 emitted over 80% more CO2 per block hour than the A350 on each of these routes. In the cases of Melbourne and New York, the A380 emitted 95% more CO2 per block hour with the A350 saving around 20 tonnes of CO2 per block hour. Until passenger demand recovers to appropriate levels, Qatar Airways will continue to keep its A380 aircraft grounded, ensuring it only operates commercially and environmentally responsible aircraft.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 110 destinations with plans to increase to 129 by the end of March 2021. With more frequencies being added to key hubs, Qatar Airways offers unrivalled connectivity to passengers, making it easy for them to change their travel dates or destination if they need to.

Passengers can book flights with peace of mind, knowing that Qatar Airways offers unlimited date changes and fee-free refunds for all tickets issued before 30 April 2021, for travel completed by 31 December 2021. The carrier’s industry-leading flexible booking policy also provides the permanent feature of exchanging tickets for a travel voucher with 10% additional value for all customers booking travel via qatarairways.com. For full terms and conditions visit qatarairways.com/Flexibility.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.