DOHA, Qatar – Qatar Airways’ celebratory inaugural launch of its first A380 super-jumbo took place in Doha recently in the presence of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the State of Qatar Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Minister of Finance and chairman of Qatar Airways Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Group chief executive of Qatar Airways Akbar Al Baker, ministers, sheikhs and ambassadors.
With the press of a button, the event commenced with a symbolic drawing of the curtain, opened by Prime Minister Al-Thani.
Addressing local and international media at a press conference on arrival, Al Baker said that the arrival of the new super-jumbo marks a moment of great pride for the State of Qatar and the national airline.
“Qatar Airways has grown from strength to strength, and is recognized all around the world for its excellence and high standards, and this is thanks to the vision of The Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and His Highness the Father Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani,” Al Baker said.
“As the State of Qatar’s national airline, we began operations in 1997 with just four aircraft operating to 14 regional routes. In 2003, we placed our order for the A380 super-jumbo and at that time we were operating to only 50 destinations with 28 aircraft. Today, as the A380 joins our rapidly growing fleet, we are operating 137 aircraft to 144 destinations in six continents,” he said.
“The A380 will form the backbone of our fleet, and support our strategy of facilitating predominantly long-haul traffic with high density, widebody aircraft,” said Al Baker.
Qatar Airways currently has 13 Airbus A380 aircraft on order, 10 firm and three options, with a total of four set to be inducted into the fleet before year end.
The capacity of the airline’s A380 is 517 seats in a tri-class configuration of eight seats in First Class, 48 in Business Class and 461 in Economy Class spread across two decks.
The Qatar Airways A380 has a bespoke interior, including a Premium Lounge on the upper deck and 90-inch First Class seats that recline into fully flat beds.
London Heathrow will be the first route for the A380, operating as flight QR001.