A New QSuite For The 777X, A321neoLRs To Krabi And Why Qatar Airways Sees No Value In Premium Economy Flying – Insights From HE Akbar Al Baker.

Transcript

Akbar Al Baker:We as an airline cannot take legal action against the governments that brought blockade to my country. But yes, as an airline, we have recourse to recover our losses through legal channels. So the point of why they blockaded is nothing to do with me, but the airline making the losses is my issue, which I am already taking up with, with through the legal channels. What we did very quickly is that we redeployed the capacity. We had already planned to open all these routes. that we opened, but they were way in the future. We brought it closer and we started to expand and replace the 18 destinations that we lost. As you heard, we have now 24 destinations to the 18 we lost, and we have a very aggressive growth plan this year again. What is important to note is that our strategic investments came into play, where we could then deploy the excess, temporary excess capacity we had with IAG, with Royal Air Maroc, and with others. We never parked any aircraft from day one. We made sure that we immediately redeployed the capacity that was available to us. We frankly did not give them the aeroplane to advertise our product. We gave an aeroplane to a partner that wanted capacity, and it happened right at the time when we were blockaded, where British Airways had aircraft that were grounded and that have issues with the engine. And we could then immediately give them the aeroplanes that we had, which would have had to be parked because we didn't have the routes to operate. There was always a demand for privacy from our local clientele, that when they were in our business class cabins, that they were very exposed, especially when they want to sleep. So we then thought about how we can do something to cater for that privacy that they want, but at the same time invent something new that we could not only enclose an individual, but we will enclose the family. And this is where we then got the idea of putting backward and forward-facing seats and being able to convert a group of seats into a private cabin. We get very positive uptake about the product. People actually, when they book their flights now, they ask if the aircraft has Qsuite. People don't realize that though it may have a Qsuite flight, But that flight could change for a non-Qsuite aircraft because not all our aircraft are at the moment fitted with Qsuites. And not all aircraft will be fitted in the short term, especially when the aircraft that in the next 2 or 3 years is going out of our fleet to be replaced with a new product. What we will certainly do that 5 times— sorry, 5 years down the line, all our widebodies will be fitted with Qsuite. It does happen because people suddenly get very high expectations. And, you know, there will be a time when we will not be able to cater for that rising expectation. Yes, I agree that, you know, this A lot of product innovation becomes a double-edged sword. What is also interesting to know is that when the product moves on, not— we will not every time be able to upgrade the previous product. For example, in the 777X, we will have a new brand of Qsuite. So what will happen is people will prefer that, and then when they get into the older version, they'll say, oh, we didn't like this, why we are not having the other one? So it will be very difficult to, to please everybody. But what is important is that we'll always give you the best service delivery, and at the same time, we will make sure that you have a horizontal flat seat. Well, the first aircraft of the LR we would receive will be in 2021. What it will do is to relieve wide-body aeroplanes when we see that there is a reduction in seasonal capacity. For example, Krabi that we go to, we go with a wide-body aeroplane. But it is seasonal. So we don't want to operate seasonal. We want to operate all year round. So we can very easily reduce capacity to a narrowbody and then still be able to operate that intercontinental flight. It gives you the opportunity to fly to very thin intercontinental routes, but it also gives you the flexibility For example, you know we are going to East Africa due to the blockade. We are now using wide body, but with a narrow body load. That is that aircraft will then be able to do at lower trip cost. You know what does the premium economy do to you? It gives you additional legroom, so it gives you a leg rest. And it gives you the same meal and the facilities that is being given to you in the economy class. If you sit in a premium economy seat of any airline and you sit in the economy class seat of Qatar Airways, I assure you. That you will feel that the economy class seat is more comfortable of Qatar Airways than the premium economy. For very simple reason is that your, your legs are not first hanging. Secondly, it is not at an angle which could be uncomfortable. You could really Put your feet under the seat in front of you and have it straight, and the support of the floor. That to me is more comfortable than something that is you know holding my calves and and making me feel uncomfortable. We feel that Kapa is a very good organization that really gives you future insight. into aviation. We feel that CAPA's contribution to aviation is very important for executives like me that, you know, want to grow, want to expand, and need to get the kind of direction and understanding of what the future is going to have for us. Therefore, we have very high regards for CAPA. And we, of course, wish CAPA all the best in its future progress.

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