QATAR AIRWAYS NAMES FRANKFURT AS FIRST AIRBUS A350XWB DESTINATION
(Posted 21st October 2014)
There will no doubt be a scramble of passengers to be on the first flight of Qatar Airways to Frankfurt, now that the airline has confirmed that they will begin commercial operations with the world’s latest state of the art passenger jet, the Airbus A350XWB from January next year.
QR presently flies twice a day from Doha to Frankfurt and while initially flight QR 067/068 will be operated by the new aircraft type will flight QR 069/070 follow when the second aircraft has joined the fleet.
Travelers from East Africa’s Qatar Airways destinations Entebbe, Kigali, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam, flying to Frankfurt in January, can try to be on the first or some of the subsequent flights to experience the latest wide body aircraft built largely from composite materials. The 283 seater aircraft, which offers 36 seats in the world’s best business class, as per Skytrax, and 247 seats in the airline’s equally award winning economy class, has last week for the first time taken to the skies as the flight tests are now underway before the aircraft receives the final cabin outfitting before delivery in December. Qatar Airways has 80 of these aircraft on order and is expected to take delivery of at least 8 in 2015.
Said the airline’s CEO Mr. Akbar Al Baker, when making the announcement yesterday: ‘This year has truly been a Year of the Fleet for Qatar Airways. The airline has demonstrated its commitment to quality and comfort offered onboard and to providing passengers with the leading technology available in the aviation industry.
Qatar Airways looks forward to inaugurating our first A350 on the Doha – Frankfurt route, and to very soon introducing this next-generation aircraft on many other cities offered on the airline’s extensive network’.
Only recently has Qatar Airways taken delivery of their first Airbus A380 which now operates one of QR’s five daily flights from Doha to London Heathrow. Presently does the airline serve 144 destinations but with Asmara and Djibouti coming on line before the end of the year will the number rise to 146 before climbing into the 150+ range in 2015.
