Qatar Airways A350XWB To Fly Double Daily To Frankfurt

Qatar Airways’ new widebody aircraft, the A350-900XWB, will operate double-daily flights to Frankfurt in March, according to industry website airlineroute.net.

QR067 will depart Doha 0740 and arrive in Frankfurt 1230 and QR68 will depart Frankfurt 1525 and arrive in Doha 2325, while QR069 will depart Doha at 0205 and arrive in Frankfurt at 0655 and QR070 will depart Frankfurt at 1045 and arrive in Doha 1840.

The 283-seat aircraft contains 36 business and 247 economy seats. Speaking at the A350’s offiicial unveiling at Doha last week, Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said it was “the design of a decade”. “It’s definitely more mature than the B787 Dreamliner was at its introduction,” he said, which may explain its confidence in ramping up operations. The first flight to Frankfurt is due to depart on Thursday.

Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, the aircraft, predominantly made from carbon fibre (53 per cent) and titanium (14 per cent), offers 25 per cent lower seat-mile costs compared with current aluminium long-range aircraft.

Qatar Airways flew its first A350XWB aircraft to London Heathrow over the weekend to assist with research on noise reduction. The quiet aircraft can operate up to 21 decibels below the regulatory standards for aircraft of its kind.

Alongside Frankfurt, Qatar plans to fly to plane to New York and secondary cities in Europe, as well as on routes to Asia and the Subcontinent. The A350 will eventually replace all the airline’s A330s.