Qatar Airways' First A380 Super-Jumbo Lands in Doha

Doha, September 18 (QNA) - Qatar Airways (QA) first A380 Super-Jumbo safely landed at Hamad International Airport Thursday at 5pm after departing from Hamburg, Germany earlier in the morning. Qatar's national carrier held the inaugural launch and the aircraft welcome ceremony under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani. A welcome party received QA Group Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker and other officials who travelled from Hamburg to Doha. Around 500 guests including government ministers of the State of Qatar, officials, guests, local and international media personnel attended the ceremony. Speaking at a media conference Al Baker said, "The arrival of the new super-jumbo marks a moment of great pride for Qatar and the national airline. "Qatar Airways has grown from strength to strength and is recognized all around the world for its excellence and high standards. This is thanks to the vision of HH The Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and HH The Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. "Qatar Airways began operations in 1997 with just four aircraft operating to 14 international routes. In 2003 we placed our order for the Airbus A380 Super-Jumbo and at that time we were operating to only 50 destinations with 28 aircraft. Today, as the A380 joins our rapidly growing fleet, we are operating 137 aircraft to 144 destinations in six continents." The A380 will form the backbone of our fleet and support our strategy of facilitating predominantly long-haul traffic with high density, wide-body aircraft, he said. The capacity of the QA's 380 is 517 in a tri-class configuration of eight seats in First Class, 48 in Business Class and 461 in Economy spread across two decks. The aircrafts seat pitch of 90 inches is the longest in the industry and features bespoke interiors while the aircraft also features a premium lounge on the upper deck. QA currently 13 Airbus A380 aircraft on order, 10 firm and three options, with a total of four set to be inducted into the fleet before the year end, he said. Regarding the price of the A380, the CEO said, "The list price is $380 Million. When we increase our orders for additional A380s we will demand further discounts. He also added that QA has high specifications for interiors of the plane to match its luxury standards. Replying to a question on when the first commercial flight of A380 aircraft would take off, Al Baker said, "The A380's first flight QR 001 will take off on October 10 from Doha to London Heathrow Airport." Replying to a persistent foreign correspondent, Al Baker said, "QA has no plans for the next decade to issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) until all our expansion plans are fulfilled." Regarding safety issues of Dreamliner aircrafts, Al Baker said, "The Dreamliner has not broken our dreams. It has fulfilled our dreams. It is a modern state-of-the-art and fuel efficient and low emission plane. Qatar Airways would not put a single passenger on a plane that is unsafe." On airfare competition from regional carrier the CEO said, "We like competition. We appreciate that the competition has made Qatar Airways a five-star rated airline. As far the pricing is concerned, Qatar Airways does not compete in prices, we compete in the quality we provide to passengers." (QNA)