Qatar Airways has selected Adient Aerospace, a joint venture of car-seat maker Adient and Boeing, to make its new business-class seat, a mock-up of which it revealed on the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow.
The new QSuite Next-Gen will be available onboard the airline's Boeing 777X and Airbus A350 jets, and will be ready for introduction starting from the fourth quarter of 2025, Xia Cai, Qatar Airways' senior vice president of product development, told reporters at the event on Monday.
The previous version of the business-class seat was built by Collins Aerospace.
Plane makers are dealing with a shortage of parts, ranging from engines to cabin interiors, but Ms Cai said Qatar Airways is working very closely with its suppliers to ensure the new business class suite is handed over on schedule.
"It is a challenge ... but we are confident it will be delivered on time," she said.
Airlines are making significant investments in their first class and business-class cabins, focusing on more space and more privacy, and even splitting up the business-class cabin into different seat options.
The doors on Qatar Airways' new business class cabin will be taller for more privacy and lighter for environmental sustainability, Ms Cai said, adding that it raises the bar for travelling in style.
"I don't see any body that can come with a product in the next 10 years that can come close, in terms of space, comfort and also the experience of being in social travel," she said.
Qatar Airways' new business class suite will feature movable 4K OLED Panasonic Astrova IFE screens for a "more cinematic experience", it said.
The screens can be repositioned to the side to create the "largest social and productivity space in the sky" for up to four passengers in the Quad Suite, and up to two passengers in the Companion Suite, according to the airline.
The Quad suite will have increased space for dining together, and more privacy with taller, digitally controlled dividers.
With larger lie-flat and double beds, the new Quad suite will also offer a turn-down service with a "make my bed" feature.
The new Companion suite has similar features to the Quad suite, now with the revamp of offering the same shared space in window aisles.
Asked if Qatar Airways' business-class seats are becoming increasingly popular with leisure travellers, as opposed to corporate fliers, Ms Cai said there is demand from families and honeymooners.
Qatar Airways' group chief executive Badr Al Meer unveiled the new Qsuite during a speech that involved interacting with Sama, an AI flight attendant on a screen.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Five ways to get fit like Craig David (we tried for seven but ran out of time)
Start the week as you mean to go on. So get your training on strong on a Monday.
Train hard, but don’t take it all so seriously that it gets to the point where you’re not having fun and enjoying your friends and your family and going out for nice meals and doing that stuff.
Think about what you’re training or eating a certain way for — don’t, for example, get a six-pack to impress somebody else or lose weight to conform to society’s norms. It’s all nonsense.
Get your priorities right.
And last but not least, you should always, always chill on Sundays.
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Youth YouTuber Programme
The programme will be presented over two weeks and will cover the following topics:
- Learning, scripting, storytelling and basic shots
- Master on-camera presence and advanced script writing
- Beating the algorithm and reaching your core audience
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
More on Quran memorisation:
The bio
Favourite book: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Favourite quote: “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist
Favourite Authors: Arab poet Abu At-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi
Favourite Emirati food: Luqaimat, a deep-fried dough soaked in date syrup
Hobbies: Reading and drawing
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
