Qatar Airways teases next-gen Qsuites business class, first class

• a ‘mini-Qsuite’ for single-aisle jets such as the Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX families
• an improved Qsuite 2.0 for future twin-aisle jets including the long-delayed Boeing 777X
• a new first class suite design for a small number of Boeing 777X jets on premium routes

Al Baker called out the Qsuite’s successor at this week’s ITB Berlin travel show in response to Lufthansa’s launch of its own all-new Allegris first class and Allegris business class, which will also appear on sibling Swiss from 2025.

Asked for his thoughts on Lufthansa’s Allegris line, Al Baker congratulated Lufthansa Group chief Carsten Spohr on the move while adding “he is nearly 12 years behind Qatar Airways’ product improvement.”

“He’s my friend – okay, we are adversaries in business – but he is my friend, and if he will invite me, I will certainly fly in his product, and I will tell him how many mistakes he has made,” Al Baker half-joked.

“And whilst he does that (Allegris) programme, we are now going into our next evolution with Qatar Airways product.”

The Gulf carrier has three premium seating projects underway, all being ‘next evolutions’ of the airline’s business class and first class platforms.

Qatar Airways’ single-aisle Mini Qsuite business class

There’s been plenty of movement around the shape of Qatar Airways’ future single-aisle fleet, which centred on a spectacular falling out between Airbus and Qatar Airways over surface defects in the larger A350.

Claims and counter-claims led to legal action which saw Airbus take the unprecedented step of cancelling Qatar’s order for 50 A321neo jets.

Following a legal settlement between Airbus and Qatar Airways, those A321neo jets are back on the schedule – albeit with delivery pushed back to 2026.

However, during its stoush with Airbus, Qatar Airways signed for as many as 50 of the Boeing 737 MAX 10 (25 as orders and 25 options); the airline also has several smaller 737 MAX 8 jets on the way.

Qatar Airways' A321neo fleet will be crowned by something akin to a 'mini-Qsuite'.

While dust has jet to settle on Qatar’s short-range fleet, Al Baker has previously told Executive Traveller that the A321neo would be crowned by something akin to a ‘mini Qsuite’.

“Every seat will have aisle access” and convert into a fully lie-lat bed, Al Baker confirmed.

And while unlike the highly-regarded Qsuites “they will not have doors”, Al Baker said “they will have something very similar, so you will have some privacy.”

Al Baker indicated the single-aisle Qsuite seat would use an existing design from an established manufacturer rather than a fully bespoke effort – although the end product would be heavily customised, with high-quality fittings and finish plus plenty of small yet thoughtful touches when it comes to personal space, comfort and convenience.

However, given the number of doored single-aisle business class suites now flowing onto the market from every major seat manufacturer, it’s possible Qatar Airways could change course and opt to recreate the doored Qsuite experience on the Boeing 737 MAX or A321neo simply to stay ahead or at least keep up with the crowd.

The same ‘mini Qsuite’ is also bound for the extended-range A321LR jets – which will be earmarked for destinations with insufficient demand for a twin-aisle jet – “because the product is so much enhanced that you really don’t need” a different seat, Al Baker says, “and we want to standardise the product we have on our aeroplanes.”

Whatever we see will of course be a step-change from the dated 2-2 business class of the Gulf carrier’s workhorse Airbus A320 fleet, which is now nearing the end of its life.

Qatar Airways’ twin-aisle Qsuite 2.0 business class

Next on Qatar’s business class playbook will be that improved Qsuite, which Al Baker tells Executive Traveller was originally destined for the airline’s Boeing 787’s.

“We were developing a Qsuite for the 787 but unfortunately the manufacturer defaulted in supplying us the seat,” Al Baker recalled.

This led to the Dreamliners making their debut with a very different seat: one supplied by Adient Aerospace, a joint venture between auto seat maker Adient and Boeing.

Qatar Airways' Boeing 787-9 business class suite.

“We had to move very quickly, and with Adient being a subsidiary of Boeing, we managed for them to supply us something that they could very quickly give it to us, nearly off the shelf seat with only minor modifications.”

While those Boeing 787 business class seats also sport a door, the evolution of the true Qsuite continues behind closed (business class) doors.

Qatar Airways' Boeing 787-9 business class suites.

“We will have a new Qsuite that will go on the 777X,” Al Baker tells Executive Traveller.

“It is a huge enhancement of the current Qsuite, because people now are all booking on QR because of the Qsuite, it's a brand that is now really known to everybody.”

Al Baker said the drive to continue refining the product and raising the bar has to be done ‘because we are in a very competitive industry.”

How do you make the Qsuite even better? We'll have to wait and see...

Given that the Boeing 777X series – which begins with the 777-9, a success or the best-selling 777-300 family – isn’t due to arrive until at least 2025, it’’s not yet known if this Qsuite 2.0 might first appear on the next tranche of Airbus A350 deliveries, which includes 23 additional A350-1000s.

Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777X first class suite

Some of the new Boeing 777 jets could also see “a very exclusive first class cabin” which would ply a handful of premium-heavy European routes favoured by well-heeled Qatari travellers.

“We have huge demand here in Qatar to two or three European destinations” such as London and Paris, Al Baker said, “so we may introduce a very small first class cabin for our local passengers who want a very exclusive first class product.”

Qatar Airways' current open-plan A380 first class cabin.

Al Baker has previously claimed the Qsuite is so good that it removes the need for first class, while also citing a reduced demand for first class over the years.

A new first class cabin for the Boeing 777 – or dare we say the Airbus A350-1000 – would be Qatar’s first fresh play in this space in almost a decade, since it launched eight ‘open suite’ designs on the A380 superjumbo in 2014.