Qatar Airways reveals new Qsuite business-class seats
Qatar Airways announced its much-anticipated new business-class seats Monday, revealing the next iteration of its nearly decade-old but still industry-leading Qsuite product, and TPG was there to get a very first look.
During a packed event at the Farnborough International Airshow outside of London, the airline's new CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer lifted the curtain and bragged about the existing product's longevity.
"We're happy and sad at the same time," Al-Meer said. "Happy to know that something that we developed years ago is still the benchmark. And sad because we were expecting someone else to come and raise the benchmark" in the interim.
The new seat 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 an incremental upgrade, rather than a revolutionary change. That's unsurprising, considering that Qatar's original Qsuite still wins awards, including TPG's 2023 award for Best Business Class.
Upgraded Qsuite
The new seats take advantage of the massive interior of the 777X, with more shoulder space, legroom and storage areas than the current product.
Partitions between the Qsuites in the center of the plane can be tucked away to join up to four individual suites together, a feature geared at families or other groups traveling together.
For the first time, though, the inflight entertainment screens that double as partitions between seats along the windows can be pushed out of the way, allowing two passengers to sit across from each other — say, for a meal, or to chat. This works because the window seats alternate between forward- and rear-facing.
Those screens, meanwhile, have been upgraded to 4K OLED monitors. The partitions around the suites are slightly taller, and the doors are motorized, compared to the manual doors on the current product. The seat also has a handful of ambient lighting options that can be controlled from a touchscreen remote.
Other upgrades revolve around storage, which is typically the one complaint you'll hear about the existing Qsuite product.
There are two drawers built into the suite, offering space to put things like headphones, a laptop or tablet, your phone, a book or wallet, or any other odds and ends that clutter your space during a flight.
One of the drawers can actually be locked — there's a keypad to let passengers choose a code, sort of like a hotel safe.
There's also a "nook" next to the seat where you could stow a small backpack, along with a dedicated water bottle compartment.
Ultimately it's not a revolutionary new product. But that's because the original Qsuite already was, and continues to be. Instead, it's a handy upgrade to go along with a new fleet type.
The 777X is expected to be certified and delivered starting in late 2025 or 2026, so don't expect to see the new Qsuite on your next flight!
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