Passengers traveling on Qatar Airways have a higher chance of experiencing its award-winning Qsuite in 2020 after a significant product expansion over 2019.
The airline said it had introduced the patented business class suite on routes to Auckland, Bangkok, Boston, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dallas Fort Worth, Delhi, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Milan, Montreal, and Tokyo Haneda.
Qatar won AirlineRatings’ 2020 best business class and catering awards thanks in part to the spacious, private, well-designed Qsuite, which features a giant high-definition television screen and sliding privacy doors. The awards were among 70 the airline said it received during the year.
READ about the AirlineRatings awards
And Qatar chief executive Akbar Al Baker has pledged in a year-end missive that the high standards will continue, promising Qatar would "never deviate from our commitment to provide our millions of passengers with the very best onboard experience every time they travel with us".
“Our growth over the last 12 months, in the face of adversity, has been impressive and going forward we will look to continue to prosper,'' he said.
“As 2019 comes to an end, on behalf of our management and staff, I give our passengers our absolute guarantee that we will strive to continue to deliver the very highest standards of quality and excellence in the industry.”
The Doha-based airline, which has been hit by an “illegal” blockade by some of its neighbors, revealed its combined passenger and cargo fleet hit 259 aircraft by year’s end as it continued to add destinations and increase frequencies to others.
It said 32 aircraft were delivered during 2019 as it increased its network to more than 160 destinations.
New routes were: Davao, Philippines; Gaborone, Botswana; Izmir, Turkey; Langkawi, Malaysia; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia; Rabat, Morocco; and Valletta, Malta.
It also increased frequencies to dozens of destinations including Amman, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kuwait, Larnaca, Manchester, Miami, Milan, Penang and Vienna.
At the same time, it signed new or extended codeshare agreements with partners such as IndiGo Airlines, LATAM, China Southern, and SriLankan Airlines.
One downside for the airline was its financial results: losses widened to a record $US639 million in fiscal 2019 as it grappled with global economic challenges and the blockade.
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