Whilst winter is here, Qatar Airways is in the process of strengthening services to Europe from December 2019.
Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER arriving at Chicago O’Hare – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Three services are getting upgrades (or downgrades depending on your view)
- Stockholm (Sweden) – Scales from an Airbus A350-900 to a Boeing 777-300ER
- Manchester (United Kingdom) – Scales from an Airbus A350-900 to a Boeing 777-300ER
- Helsinki (Finland) – Scales from an Airbus A320 to an Airbus A330
The airline describes its Boeing 777 fleet as “spacious”. Those who will be in the back might debate that with 10 across seating and 17″ of seat width verse the 9 across A350 with 18″ seat width.
London Gatwick will also get a frequency boost – with an additional two frequencies a week to Doha. This changes it from double daily (14 flights a week) to 16 flights a week. These will continue to be operated by Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
In quotes
Mr. Akbar Al Baker – Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, said:
“We invite all passengers to enjoy the additional capacity and flexibility provided by these aircraft upgrades and increased frequencies. We are dedicated to giving our customers more choice and flexibility when planning their business and leisure trips to and from Europe, enabling them to connect seamlessly at Hamad International Airport to more than 160 global destinations. We now provide direct services to more than 50 European cities, and our European route network is expanding rapidly.”
More capacity is the name of the game
With Qatar Airways business model seemingly to feed people into its hub in Doha. To get the passengers there from these four points, Qatar Airways is using a mixture of larger aircraft, tighter seat densities and more frequent services.
Passengers as usual should always check their seat maps, and check how their reservations are holding. Because you can bet the seat shifting software has played a game with the equipment changes.
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