Qatar Airways reaches B777-300 milestone

Qatar Airways has reached another milestone in its short history with the delivery of its 25th Boeing 777 aircraft.The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300 Extended Range (ER) version, arrived in the airline’s hub city of Doha following the overnight delivery flight from Boeing’s manufacturing factory in the US west coast city of Seattle.The latest acquisition is the 15th 777-ER in Qatar Airways’ Boeing fleet which also includes eight B777-200 Long Range versions and two 777 freighters. Qatar Airways, which began taking deliveries of the Boeing 777s in November 2007, now operates a mixed fleet of 97 Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier aircraft.The Boeing 777-300ERs are used on services across Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Far East and North America. The Boeing 777 is one the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft, and will help Qatar Airways to further expand its business and support projected growth in long-haul markets. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker commented: “The Boeing 777 forms the backbone of our long-haul and ultra-long-haul fleet. The latest delivery further cements our strategy in operating one of the youngest fleets in the sky with an exciting and diverse global route network covering all six continents.”Qatar Airways’ two-class Boeing 777-200ER features 42 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration with each offering a generous seat pitch of 78-inches – or 6.5ft of leg room. Each seat converts into 180 degree horizontal flat beds. The aircraft also features 293 Economy seats in a 3-3-3 layout offering up to 34-inch pitch. All seats provide personal touch screen seat back TV screens offering more than 900 interactive audio and video entertainment options, regardless of which class passengers are travelling in.The new aircraft deliveries, averaging more than one per month, are part of Qatar Airways’ long-term growth strategy to expand and modernise its fleet with newer and more fuel-efficient aircraft. In the next three years, the airline will launch flights to over 20 new destinations.