Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (Arabic: القطرية, Al Qatariyah‎), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, linking over 125 international destinations across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North America, South America and Oceania from its base at Hamad International Airport, using a fleet of more than 100 aircraft. Qatar Airways Group employs more than 31,000 people, of which 19,000 work directly for Qatar Airways. The carrier has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013, the first Gulf carrier to sign with one of the three airline alliances. Qatar Airways offers business class passengers fully flat horizontal beds in a 2-2-2 configuration on board its Boeing 777 aircraft. On other long-haul aircraft, business class seats recline up to 172 degrees, with massage functions. Wines and Champagne are served. Qatar Airways has introduced new business class seats on board its newly delivered A320 aircraft with IFE seat-back PTVs in every seat. It will introduce the new seats in each upcoming new A320 aircraft, as well as retrofitting 4 existing A321 and 2 A319LR aircraft. In March 2012 Qatar Airways revealed a new business class cabin, to be launched on the new Boeing 787 aircraft from summer 2012, initially on intra-Gulf routes before being introduced on the Doha to London Heathrow route. The new seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration allowing direct aisle access for every passenger, and provide almost twice as much space as existing business class cabins. The seats will be 22 inches wide and converts easily to a flat-bed which extends to 80 inches and is 30 inches wide. Each seat has also been fitted with touch screen technology which is powered by Android. The 777-300ER ("ER" for Extended Range) is the C-market version of the -300. It features raked and extended wingtips, a wing aspect ratio of 9.0, a new main landing gear, reinforced nose gear, and extra fuel tanks. It also has a strengthened fuselage, wings, empennage, and engine attachments. The -300ER is powered by the GE90-115B turbofan, which is the world's most powerful jet engine in service, with a maximum thrust of 115,300 lbf (513 kN). Its maximum range is 7,825 nautical miles (14,492 km), made possible by higher MTOW and increased fuel capacity. The -300ER can fly approximately 34 percent farther than the -300 with a full load of passengers and cargo. Following flight testing, aerodynamics refinements have reduced fuel burn by an additional 1.4 percent. The first -300ER was delivered to Air France on April 29, 2004.The -300ER is the best-selling 777 variant, having surpassed the -200ER in orders in 2010 and deliveries in 2013. Since its launch, the model has been a primary driver of the twinjet's sales past the rival A330/340 series. Using two engines produces a typical operating cost advantage of around 8–9 percent for the -300ER over the A340-600, along with a 20 percent fuel burn advantage over the 747-400. Several airlines have acquired the -300ER as a 747-400 replacement amid rising fuel prices. As of November 2014, -300ER deliveries to 33 different customers totaled 527, with 231 unfilled orders. Operators had 493 aircraft in service as of July 2014. The -300ER's direct Airbus competitors have included the A340-600HGW and the A350-1000.

• published: 07 Aug 2015
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