Qatar Airways included 10 long -range models in its existing order for 50 Airbus A321neojets after it being forced to fly longer routes due to a regional diplomatic rift. The airline announced on Thursday that 10 of its latest purchase of 50 aircraft to be delivered from 2020 are A321LR.
The A321's are larger versions of the Airbus A320 jets. The airline said that the long-ranged planes will help it launch flights to a new market that are out of reach of smaller A320's. Since June 2017, state-owned Qatar Airways were banned from passing through the airways of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain after their economic ties were severed. The airline company lost its route to 18 cities in these countries. The airline needed to increase its operational cost in flying longer routes while avoiding the four countries. The airline lost around U.S.69 million until March 2018 because of the rift.
Qatar Airway's order for 50 A321 was made in 2017 and it is valued at around U.S.$6.4 billion. The order is an upgrade of the 50 A3220 to the larger jets. In October, the airline also upgraded five A350-900 orders for a bigger A350-1000 plane model.
Recently, the airline also announced that they plan to upgrade its top North American destination including the second daily Airbus A350-1000 XWB service to fly to New York. New York, currently, accommodates two daily flights from Qatar's Doha hub. It the operations of the airline in New York starts, it shall be the first North American city to have flights of both A350-900 and A350-1000 which are both operated by Qatar Airways.
The A350-1000 XWB offers more Qsuites for business class than the dash 900. It offers 46 Qsuites due to its longer fuselage. It offers 10 more Qsuites than the dash 900 which gives an advantage to premium cabin travelers.
The plane also has added 34 seats in the standard 3-3-3 configuration. The upgrade on the New York-Doha route is being increased by 44 seats.
Americas Eric Odone, Senior Vice President of Qatar Airways said that the advantages signify Qatar Airways' commitment to constantly growing and developing their U.S. gateways as they ensure unprecedented levels of comfort and service every time their passengers travel. He added that they are confident that their passengers will enjoy the A350-1000 flights and they are looking forward to bringing them to even more gateways across the United States.
