Qatar first announced that they would be bringing the A350-1000XWB into the Australian skies in February of this year. They announced that the aircraft would be replacing the current 777-300ER which operates the Doha – Sydney – Canberra service.
The airline first said that the aircraft swap over would happen in October, but that was delayed, and the date got pushed back into mid-November.
When I got the alert today that the airline had pushed forward the date for the swap, I was quite surprised to be totally honest. Routesonline.com reports that Qatar has indeed changed the date of the swap and the aircraft will now be placed on the route from the 1st of November instead of the 16th of November.
Qatar A350-1000XWB (Image – Qatar)
- QR906 will depart Doha at 7:50 am and arrives into Sydney the next day at 6:10 am. The flight then departs Sydney at 7:40 am and arrives into Canberra at 08:40 am the same day.
- QR907 will depart Canberra at 2:10 pm and arrive into Sydney at 3:10. The flight will then depart Sydney at 4:40 pm and arrive into Doha at 11:55 pm.
The change in aircraft is a much-welcomed upgrade as the A350-1000 features the carriers fantastic Qsuites business class product.
Qatar’s A350-1000XWB features 327 of the latest seats the airline offers spread across two cabins, business & economy. There is a total of 46 Qsuites which are in a 1-2-1 configuration having a pitch of 79” – 108” and a width of 21.5.”
The economy cabin consists of 281 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration and those seats have a pitch of 31” and a total width of 17.4.”
To have a look at what the Qsuite product is like, take a look here.
How to book Qatar Airways redemptions on the A350-1000?
As Qatar is part of Oneworld, there are quite a few ways to book redemptions. Below I’ll list a few programs which most will be familiar with:
- American Airlines AAdvantage – 80,000 points one-way in business class, 42,500 points one-way in economy.
- Qantas Frequent Flyer – 119,200 points one-way in business class, 50,300 points one-way in economy.
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club – 101,500 points one-way in business class, 50,750 points one-way in economy.
- British Airways Executive Club – 154,500 points one-way in business class, 51,500 points one-way in economy.
The easiest way to find award seats on Qatar is via the Qantas website or the British Airways website.
