Doha,Qatar
21 June 2017
(Qatar Airways)

Qatar Airways is enjoying a week of success and celebration as Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti met with France’s Minister for Transport, Élisabeth Borne, to reaffirm the countries' ongoing support and affiliation.

Fresh from winning the Skytrax Airline of the Year award for the fourth time, Qatar’s national carrier received overwhelming support for its bold new global television and social media commercial, aimed at bringing people together through travel without prejudice, which has already been viewed by more than 20 million people from all corners of the world.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said “This week has been a significant signal of Qatar Airways' ongoing role not just as a leader in the aviation industry, but as a connector in people’s day-to-day lives. At a time of judgement, prejudice and illegal actions, Qatar Airways has triumphed through a simple yet central belief in bringing people together beyond borders in the sky, whether it be work colleagues, leisure passengers, or of course family members and friends. Our new commercial states our core values of travel as an independent human right against the backdrop of a changing and dynamic landscape, because, quite simply, we believe the world is all of ours to explore, and it is a strange thing for people to be apart.”

Launched on Sunday through the airline’s social media channels, the commercial gained more than 20 million views within the first two days, from those inspired by the airline’s core messages that travel goes beyond borders, and is an independent right and necessity, while also teaching compassion and an understanding of others.

The success of the commercial falls during the same week as this year’s Paris Air Show, where Qatar Airways revealed the first aircraft retrofitted with its new, award-winning Business Class concept, Qsuite, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to gathered crowds of industry representatives and international media.

The ceremony, on the opening day of this year’s air show, was attended by Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti, where the revolutionary new Qsuite was presented by Akbar Al Baker to notable dignitaries including Qatari Ambassador to France, Khalid Bin Rashid Al Mansouri; Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Rail, Eng. Abdulla T. Al Subaie and Vice Chairman of the Boeing Company, Ray Conner.

The following day the airline was proudly named Airline of the Year for the fourth time, and also collected the World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best First Class Lounge and Best Airline in the Middle East by the prestigious 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Akbar Al Baker continued: “The Paris Air Show 2017 has once again been a tremendous success for Qatar Airways. With the debut of our first aircraft fitted with the state-of-the-art, patented Qsuite, we have truly set a new standard for the industry by bringing First Class to our Business Class cabin, while also winning a raft of Skytrax awards, including Airline of the Year

The first destinations to feature the Qsuite will be London on 24 June, followed by Paris and New York, with the airline’s fleet retrofitted at the rate of one plane per month. Qsuite, features the industry’s first-ever double bed in Business Class, while adjustable panels and movable TV monitors on the centre four seats allows colleagues, friends or families travelling together to transform their space into a private suite, allowing them to work, dine and socialise together.

One of the world’s fastest growing airlines, Qatar Airways last week added Dublin in the Republic of Ireland to its global route network. This will shortly be followed by Nice, France, on the 4 July, reaffirming the airline’s commitment to progress with its rapid expansion plans.

Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of 200 aircraft to a network of more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.