economie

Qatar CEO says the airline isn’t ditching its Airbus A380s just yet. See inside the superjumbo, complete with a bar and lounge.

August 6, 20240
A Qatar Airways Airbus A380.

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Qatar eventually plans to retire the jets with the yet-to-be-certified Boeing 777X, which is five years behind schedule and at least $1 billion in the hole due to pandemic and other production delays.

The airline has 94 of the 777X planes on order, including the 20 additional purchases it announced at the airshow. It expects the first delivery in early 2026.

Speaking about the 777X, Al Meer expressed confidence in the program despite its myriad problems, telling reporters “let’s not cry over spilled milk.”

The plane holds up to 517 people in three classes.
Doha, Qatar’s Hamad International Airport.

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Al Meer said the A380 allows it to shuttle as many people as possible, noting the plane would be a great future solution to the ever-busy skies as travel breaks records this year.

“We have so many restrictions and so many airports around the world that the A380 is the best option to operate to certain airports,” he said. “For example, the A380 is the best option for us when we are restricted on the number of flights we can make to Australia.”

The most basic offering — yet still very nice — is economy.
Rivals Emirates and Singapore Airlines have installed the product on their respective A380s.

Emirates

Qatar has yet to introduce a premium economy cabin despite the demand for the seats continuing to heat up.

Qatar’s cash cows are on the second level: business and first class.
Qatar’s cabin lacks sliding doors — a staple in modern business class that airlines like Air India have recently added to their planes.

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Passengers will get the regular bells and whistles of business, including lie-flat beds, large seatback screens, plenty of legroom, power, and an amenity kit.

The seats resemble those of British Airways’ new Club Suite, which is flying on many of its Boeing and Airbus widebodies, though not the A380.

The A380 business class is not the airline’s famous QSuite.
Qatar’s first class cabin on the A380 is different than the QSuite on some other aircraft.

Qatar Airways

Qatar’s A380 is the only plane in its fleet with first class, having first debuted in 2014.

The elegant seats are on the front of the A380’s upper deck in a 1-2-1 layout.
Qatar’s A380 first class with dining set up.

MIGUEL MEDINA/Getty Images

“We want to combine the experience of flying commercial and on a private jet to develop something new,” Al Meer told CNBC of the effort.

Besides its cabins, Qatar has squeezed a few other niche features onboard — the most grandiose being its flying bar and lounge.
The bar on board an Emirates A380.

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Emirates, the world’s largest A380 operator, has a similar-looking space with a circular bar and seats on its superjumno.

Meanwhile, Virgin has several social spaces on its fleet of planes, though it doesn’t fly any A380s. Instead, its Upper-Class bar is on its Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 787s, while it has lounge areas on its Airbus A330neos and A350s.

One thing missing from Qatar’s A380 is a shower.
Qatar Airways new CEO, Badr Mohammed Al Meer.

KARIM JAAFAR/Getty Images

According to Cirium, Qatar’s A380 is scheduled to fly between Doha and Bangkok, Paris, London, Sydney, and Perth, Australia, this year.

The plane is not presently flying to the US.

If not Qatar, only a few other airlines still fly the fan-favorite superjumbo.
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380.

ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Beyond Qatar, the world’s A380 operators are Emirates, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Korea’s Asiana Airlines, and Japan’s All Nippon Airways.

English startup Global Airlines is also planning to fly the A380 between New York and London, but critics aren’t holding their breath.