Qatar Airways improves mobile app functions

In keeping up with passenger demand for continuous engagement during their pre- and post-flight experience, Qatar Airways has rolled out innovative features to its mobile functionality over the course of 2016.

All phases of the journey have been improved on the mobile platform, from search and purchase – now with even greater online payment options, including using mileage from the member’s Privilege Club accounts – to managing the booking, including changing flights and purchasing extra baggage.

Recent improvements include push notifications for advising passenger of online check in availability, flight open for boarding, and even a gate change notification for Doha flight departures.

Passengers checking in baggage will now receive push notifications advising them of the checked baggage tag numbers, the time of baggage arriving at the carrousel in Doha, and the carrousel number for arrivals at Doha and many other airports. For the financial year 2015-2016, Qatar Airways handled 99.3% of all checked baggage, more than 19 million bags, without a disruption. For those few bags that are routed incorrectly, passengers will now receive push notifications telling them where their bag is, giving them peace of mind.

Another important functionality introduced in the mobile app is “My Trips,” providing passengers a convenient means of seeing journey details such as a time line view, gate information, boarding time, bag tag information and an interactive virtual tour of the aircraft.

Srinivasan A. T., Chief Information Officer at Qatar Airways, said: “Qatar Airways knows our passengers want to harness the power of technology to make the travel experience better, and we continually improve our online and app experience to ensure our customers find what they are looking for, transact what they prefer, and get the information they need – proactively, where possible – in order to be of the greatest service to them. Over the course of 2016, we made dozens of enhancements to our mobile offering, from adding payment options to adding 12 languages, all in the sincere desire to create the most convenience for the most people.”

Qatar Airways app is available on iTunes and Google Play, for both iOS and Android platforms. Features specific to iOS include: downloading the boarding pass to the wallet, Apple Pay, and locally storing Privilege Club details with Touch ID authentication.

Android Pay will be included in future releases, as will profile management, whereby passengers can link to their social media account, set their meal and seat preferences, and other features.

The Qatar Airways app has been downloaded 2.3 million times since its introduction in 2012.