ITB Berlin: Qatar boss stands by Dreamliner | Buying Business Travel

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker declared his support for Boeing and faith in the troubled Dreamliner's success at a press conference in Berlin at the ITB trade show.

He told delegates: "Qatar Airways must stand by Boeing instead of criticising them. The 787 is a very safe aircraft."

Al Baker said that the failure to replicate the battery fire problems indicated there was not a model-wide design fault, but instead pointed to workmanship on individual components.

He added: "We are confident Boeing will find a solution." When asked if he would be happy to fly in a Dreamliner with the lithium batteries inside insulating ceramic boxes, as Boeing has proposed to the Federal Aviation Administration, Al Baker replied: I'd be happy to fly in it without the boxes."

Al Baker also showcased the premium class terminal due to open later this year at the new Hamad International airport, which will feature a 25-metre swimming pool and full spa. The airport will also feature a four-star airside hotel.

The airport will open in April, for no-frills airlines, followed by national carriers once the premium facilities have been completed. Qatar Airways will move in by the end of the year.

Al Baker said the airport's delayed opening (it was supposed to open December 2012) was not comparable to the crisis at Berlin's Brandenburg airport because Hamad's delay was due to the dismissal of a single contractor, as opposed to the extensive construction problems in Berlin.

When asked about the threat from thriving Gulf airlines to European carriers, Al Baker said the Gulf airlines were not the threat. He said European airlines "make tons of money on the routes where we compete with them," citing the competition from no-frills airlines on short-haul routes as the real threat to legacy carriers in Europe.

Al Baker said Qatar Airways had no current plans to move into the low-cost sector in the Middle East, because he didn't believe the model was "conducive to our region" and he expected to see "realignment" of the sector in the Middle East.

He said instead his airline could compete by offering low-cost seats on a full-service airline by using effective yield management.

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Source: http://buyingbusinesstravel.com/news/0720427-itb-berlin-qatar-boss-stands-dreamliner

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