Airline News
Al Baker on bedrooms, the A350, eyeliner and lipstick
January 13th 2015
At last week’s formal receiving ceremonies for the Airbus A350 in Doha, Qatar Airways chief, Akbar Al Baker, was in buoyant form. Read More » “Any of you who did not apply your eyeliner or lipstick correctly, you can learn from Airbus how to do touch-ups,” he said in an obvious reference to the late delivery of the new aircraft type, which This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation understands was the result of the plane having been delivered to the airline too heavy.
Nevertheless, Al Baker seemed pleased with the “touch-ups” when he said the A350 was “a magnificent masterpiece” that represents “the pinnacle” of Qatar Airways’ achievements. The airline has 80 A350s on order, with the maiden revenue flight scheduled for January 15 from Doha to Frankfurt. The A350, which will ultimately replace all 29 A330s in the current fleet, will fly to New York, secondary European cities and the Asia-Pacific, East, Al Baker said.
Receiving the new aircraft, the CEO couldn’t resist another jab at the European carriers, saying Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are “the fastest growing carriers” and as such they “are creating a lot of concern for the European airlines who cannot keep up” as “the Gulf [carriers] are leading the aviation industry today.” Following moves by Emirates and Etihad to upscale their first class products, Qatar Airways said it is planning a patented double-bed product, but at business class pricing, to replace its ‘super business class’, which Al Baker said will be obsolete from 2016. Echoing calls from Emirates chief, Sir Tim Clark, Al Baker said Qatar Airways was “very interested” in a re-engined A380. “This aircraft would be very, very efficient with very low seat mile costs,” he said.
