Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-9s, which feature Qatar Airways’ brand-new business class seats, are finally scheduled to enter service from 1st July.
B787-9 on Doha-Madrid flights
As noted by One Mile At A Time, starting 1st July 2021, Qatar Airways will finally fly the Boeing 787-9s. The airline has scheduled the aircraft on Doha-Madrid route. Specifically, the schedule for the flight which will be operated by the B787-9 is:
- Doha-Madrid
- Departure time: 08:00
- Arrival time: 14:35
- Flight time: 7 hours and 35 minutes
- Flight number: QR149
- Frequency: Daily
- Madrid-Doha
- Departure time: 16:05
- Arrival time: 23:50
- Flight time: 6 hours and 45 minutes
- Flight number: QR150
- Frequency: Daily
Note that this schedule remain subject to change and also the aircraft assignment. In addition, also note that on some days, there are two nonstop flights in a day, and in those cases, one flight is operated by the Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner.
It’s not the 1st time that the Doha-based airline will be operating flights with the B787-9. Until now, they haven’t operated any passengers flights but have operated only cargo flights with these aircrafts.
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Background on Qatar Airways’ B787-9
Qatar Airways has ordered 30 Boeing B787-9 Dreamliners, and has taken delivery of 7 of them at the end of 2019. That already represents a significant delay over the original delivery timeline.
The reason for the delay was the business class seats on the B787-9. The 787-9’s fuselage is allegedly not wide enough for Qatar Airways’ signature Qsuites business class to be installed. As a result, the airline had to select a different product. Delays with production of that seat also caused a delay to the 787-9 entering service.
Since taking delivery of 7 B787-9s at the end of 2019, the airline has been using them primarily for cargo flights.
New Business class
Qatar Airways still hasn’t officially revealed the details of its new B787-9 business class. Though a few details are available. Qatar Airways B787-9s’ will have a total of 311 seats: 30 business class seats and 281 standard economy class seats.
According to One Mile at a Time, the airline is going for Adient Ascent seats. Not only have there been renderings of these seats in Qatar Airways’ colors, but this product matches all the clues Qatar Airways has formally given – the product has doors at every seat, is in a reverse herringbone configuration, center seats can be turned into a double bed, and Collins Aerospace isn’t the seat manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has recently announced resumption of flights to Phuket, Sharjah and Málaga. The airline is flying to more destinations in the United States than it did before pandemic and has also increased frequency of flights to the Maldives. The carrier will also launch flights to Lusaka and Harare in Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively on 6th August.
Featured image by Planespotters
What do you expect in terms of hard product on Qatar Airways’ B787-9? Let me know in the comments section below.
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