Nintendo Shares Slide After Earnings Miss Raises Switch 2 Margin Concerns 
Uber Ordered to Pay $8.5 Million in Bellwether Sexual Assault Lawsuit 
Global Markets Slide as AI, Crypto, and Precious Metals Face Heightened Volatility 
Singapore Budget 2026 Set for Fiscal Prudence as Growth Remains Resilient 
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment 
South Korea’s Weak Won Struggles as Retail Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Stocks 
Dollar Steadies Ahead of ECB and BoE Decisions as Markets Turn Risk-Off 
Fed Governor Lisa Cook Warns Inflation Risks Remain as Rates Stay Steady 
Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
SpaceX Pushes for Early Stock Index Inclusion Ahead of Potential Record-Breaking IPO 
China Extends Gold Buying Streak as Reserves Surge Despite Volatile Prices 
Thailand Inflation Remains Negative for 10th Straight Month in January 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
Nasdaq Proposes Fast-Track Rule to Accelerate Index Inclusion for Major New Listings 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Qatar Airways, Qatar's flag carrier, is scrapping its first-class cabin options, paving the way for a streamlined, efficient travel experience. The move marks a significant shift in luxury air travel as the airline phases out premium services and amenities traditionally associated with first-class tickets.
Qatar Airways is one of the airlines that offer the best business class services, especially for long flights, but its chief executive officer recently hinted that they are planning to remove the first-class seats, as per One Mile. Its Qsuites business class will not be available in the future because its newly-delivered planes do not have cabins for this.
All the new airplanes of Qatar Airways, including the Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s, do not have first-class seats, and this explains why the airline will not sell premium tickets anymore. Currently, the airline only has a long-haul first-class seat on the Airbus A380 aircraft, but these planes are already set to retire before the end of this decade.
The airline originally planned to pull out these planes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to the aircraft shortage at that time, they were brought back to service. A few of Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777s also have first-class seats, and these are the only ones that have such type of cabin space.
In any case, Qatar’s flagship carrier’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, further said that first-class cabins are no longer needed. It was previously reported that the chief already made it clear that first-class seats have no future at Qatar Airways, and in fact, it has no plans of installing this top-tier t class on its new Boeing 777-9s.
“Why should you invest in a subclass of an airplane that already gives you all the amenities that first class gives you,” AI Baker reportedly said. “I do not see the necessity.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the phase-out of first-class cabins on long-haul flights is not a move without risk. This is because people may move to other air carriers that offer such seats, like the Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France, which are also popular for their high-end offerings. The said airlines are rivals of Qantas Airways in the business class service.
Photo by: Jan Rosolino/Unsplash
