A media roundtable at the Farnborough Air Show in July offered journalists a first-hand opportunity to hear how the new head of Qatar Airways, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, intends to shape the airline. Mark Pilling reports
The decision to get back into a first-class product, renewed enthusiasm for the A380, an improving relationship with Airbus, and a marked change in the airline’s relationship with its employees are among the significant shifts in strategy and approach being made by Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, the new Group CEO of Qatar Airways.
Al-Meer, who succeeded His Excellency Akbar Al Baker in November 2023, is speedily stamping his own management philosophy and personal values on the Doha-based airline group.
An interesting first move, which Al-Meer revealed was close to being signed, (and now is signed with a 25% stake in South African carrier Airlink) was securing an equity investment in a “southern African” airline.
This move is not a strategy shift in Africa, as Qatar Airways has long been in talks to take a stake in partner RwandAir as it seeks to build its network, traffic and impact on the continent.
Announcing the deal in August, Al-Meer said: “Our investment in Airlink further demonstrates how integral we see Africa being to our business’s future. This partnership not only demonstrates our confidence in Airlink, as a company that is resilient, agile, financially robust and governed on sound principles, but also in Africa as a whole, showing huge potential that I am delighted we are able to help start realising.”
The investment in Airlink signals the increasing importance Qatar Airways is placing on African traffic connecting via Doha; the carrier serves more than 30 African destinations today, with more to come.
Moreover, airline investments are no stranger to Qatar Airways as it uses minority shareholdings as an influence lever. This began in 2015 with its 9.99% stake in International Airlines Group (IAG) and it has also taken stakes in Cathay Pacific Airways, Meridiana (which ceased operations in 2018), China Southern Airlines and LATAM Airlines Group.
The A380 stays on
Al-Meer was asked about the airline’s thinking on the Airbus A380, the question prefaced with the suggestion that Al Baker had once called the decision to buy it a mistake.
“His Excellency, Mr Akbar, maybe he made this comment years ago, based on the situation of the industry at that time. Today, it’s different,” he said. “We have so many restrictions at so many airports around the world.
“The A380 is the best option to operate to certain airports. For example, the A380 is the best option for us when we are restricted on the number of flights to go to Australia.
“The plan was to exit the A380 from our fleet this year. However, the decision internally between the commercial, finance and the planning team was to extend the operation of the A380,” explained Al-Meer.
The carrier had brought five of its 10 A380s back into service late in 2021 to give it capacity following the grounding of its A350 fleet because of the surface degradation issue on that aircraft. It has since been operating seven A380s, with three remaining in storage.
Not only will Qatar Airways stick with A380s: it will upgrade them. “For example, unfortunately, on the A380 that we operate at Qatar Airways, the Wi-Fi is not as fast as on our other aircraft. The first project that we will undertake immediately is to upgrade the Wi-Fi service of the A380,” he said, adding that internal discussions are under way about whether to upgrade the cabins, too.
Major widebody order on the cards
While Qatar Airways placed a follow-on order at Farnborough for 20 more Boeing 777-9s, taking its commitments to the type to 94 aircraft, the carrier is still pondering another massive widebody order.
While not revealing how many aircraft it is seeking, saying only it will be a “sizable” order, Al-Meer explained that it issued the tender to Airbus and Boeing in March. It is thought to be looking for up to 200 widebodies.
“We need to take our time to evaluate what we get from both manufacturers,” he said. The order announcement will hopefully be made by Q1 2025.
And, he added, the airline does not have to rush a decision. “We are not in a situation that we are so desperate to get a new aircraft. We have orders that are already in place. We are receiving new aircraft every month and will continue to receive our aircraft up to 2027 with the firm orders we have.”
Speaking about when Qatar Airways will take delivery of the first of its Boeing 777-9s, Al-Meer said: “We already have a firm commitment from Boeing to deliver on a certain date and we have aligned with the other suppliers – the seat suppliers, the IFE, the galleys – with the goal to make sure that we are still one of the launch customers.”
The certain date Boeing has told Al-Meer is Q1 2026. He would not be drawn into criticising Boeing for the long delay to the 777X programme. “What is important now for us is to receive it in the first quarter [of 2026],” he said. “Today, as English people say, let us not cry over spilt milk. Let us focus on the new delivery.”
Airbus reset
Looking forward and not back is an emerging theme for Al-Meer. That goes for his airline’s work with key OEM Airbus too.
In 2022 and 2023 the carrier was embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with the airframer over skin-paint deterioration on its Airbus A350 fleet. This led the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority to ground several aircraft.
In February 2023, Qatar Airways and Airbus reached an “amicable and mutually agreeable settlement in relation to their legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft”.
Al-Meer said at Farnborough: “We have a very good relationship with Airbus. I am meeting Guillaume [Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury] after today and we have continuous discussion with them. And just to prove this, you know the problem of the deliveries and aircraft that everybody is facing, Airbus managed to deliver some of our aircraft earlier than on their committed dates.
“And again, another proof that we have a very strong relationship with Airbus is that they were invited for the RFP that we placed,” he said.
First class product
One of the significant changes in direction being steered by Al-Meer is a surprising one – the return of a first-class product. Many carriers have moved away from first-class as it has become superfluous with business class products offering such a good customer experience.
Today the carrier only offers first-class on its A380s, but in March Al-Meer revealed the plan to install a first-class cabin on its newly delivered widebodies, the 777-9 and A350.
Qatar Airways is well advanced on the product development, which is bespoke to the carrier, and Al-Meer said he was going to see the prototype later during the Farnborough week.
“It will be on the new orders,” said Al-Meer, but he is cautious about the timeline. “As you know, it’s the problem of supply chain, the problem with certification. We are working very closely with suppliers or with manufacturers to see how they can accelerate the certification process.”
At Farnborough the carrier took the wraps off its newly developed business-class Qsuite product.
The Qsuite has been exclusively designed by the airline in partnership with its cabin systems supplier Adient Aerospace, a joint venture company between Adient and Boeing. The redesigned product will debut on the 777-9 first and then installed onto new Airbus A350s. The carrier will explore retrofitting the new Qsuite onto its existing A350 fleet.
Competitive pressure
A frequently asked question of all the Gulf carrier CEOs is whether the rise of Saudi carriers, and Riyadh Air in particular, plus a revitalised Air India, poses a threat.
“The market is very big,” started Al-Meer. “There are opportunities and there is room for other airlines to come and operate out of this region. For example, the Saudi market is huge, and I am sure when Riyadh Air comes into business, in 2025 or 2026 nobody knows, they will take part of the Saudi market.
“But as Qatar Airways we are not only dependent on the Saudi market. As you know, we are a business hub; we connect way more destinations and cities to Doha. We’ll see how things work between Riyadh Air and us, but I don’t think there is any risk to our operational model.”
In fact, traffic is surging once again this year, he noted. “I’ve seen the passenger numbers at Hamad Airport; we are up by 24-25% compared with last year. Last year, our total passenger number was 45 million. And we are expecting this year to exceed 52-53 million passengers.”
This brings another headache relating to the capacity for growth at Hamad International Airport, be it for the flag carrier or others, but there was not time to explore that issue during the round table.
Al-Meer’s comments were carefully worded so as not to dismiss Riyadh Air or anyone else, but he is confident in the product and reputation his carrier has built.
“[We view] everyone as a serious competitor. Competition is there, and we survived competition for the last 27 years. When Qatar Airways came up 27 years, nobody expected it to reach this level and now we are the best in the world,” said Al-Meer.
First-class product
One of the significant changes in direction Al-Meer is steering is a surprising one – the return of a first-class product. Many carriers have moved away from first class, as it has become superfluous with business-class products offering such a good customer experience.
Today, the carrier only offers first class on its A380s, but in March Al-Meer revealed the plan to install a first-class cabin on its newly delivered widebodies, the 777-9 and A350.
Qatar Airways is well advanced on the product development, which is bespoke to the carrier, and Al-Meer said he was going to see the prototype later during the Farnborough week.
“It will be on the new orders,” said Al-Meer, but he is cautious about the timeline. “As you know, it’s the problem of supply chain, the problem with certification. We are working very closely with suppliers or with manufacturers to see how they can accelerate the certification process.”
At Farnborough the carrier took the wraps off its newly developed business-class Qsuite product.
The Qsuite has been exclusively designed by the airline in partnership with its cabin systems supplier Adient Aerospace, a joint venture company between Adient and Boeing. The redesigned product will debut on the 777-9 first and will then be installed onto new Airbus A350s. The carrier will also explore retrofitting the new Qsuite onto its existing A350 fleet.
Market outlook
Some carriers in the US and Europe have warned of softening traffic volumes and falling yields as the post-pandemic demand hike weakens.
Asked how his airline is faring, Al-Meer said: “From what we see at Qatar Airways, the demand is there. And it is proved by the numbers that we see, and it continues to go up. In the first quarter of this year the net profit is more than double what we got in the first quarter of last year.
“In July, the numbers look much better than last year,” said Al-Meer, noting that in its recently announced annual results it posted record revenues and profits.
“So, we continue to see very high demand,” he concluded.
Airline investments
A recent media story linked Qatar Airways with the acquisition of a stake in Virgin Australia. Al-Meer would not be drawn: “I will not be able to comment on this.”
“But would you be interested?” said the journalist who asked the question. “We’re always interested to expand Qatar Airways investments,” he added.
Intensifying the influence of Qatar Airways in regions of interest, as proven with its African projects, is a key part of its strategy.
That strategy sees it remaining hands off in terms of its involvement, though, he said. “We don’t manage, we don’t get involved. For example, at IAG they have their own team, their own management, their own boss, and then they manage the airline, and we deal with them on a commercial basis like any other airline we work with.
“And the relationship between us and IAG is like the relationship that we have with American Airlines. It’s a win-win situation for both,” he said.
Expanding on its relationship with IAG, Al-Meer said: “When it comes to IAG, we realised in the last few months that there is more synergy in working with IAG, and there are way more opportunities.
“For example, when you go to ground handlers it is better to go as IAG and Qatar Airways to negotiate and get better prices than go as Qatar Airways only. This is how we will invest in the relationship between us and those companies.”
Is Al-Meer a people person?
Product, airline investments, financial results and new aircraft are the hard side of the Qatar Airways business story and how Al-Meer will get to grips with them. The soft side is no less taxing, and there is intense interest in how he will run the group from a people perspective.
Qatar Airways is indisputably the airline that Al Baker built. Not single-handedly, but this utterly driven, shamelessly meticulous and intensely demanding leader propelled himself, his team, partners and suppliers, to create the five-star airline, airport and business of today.
Al-Meer steps into the hot seat at Qatar Airways as a virtual industry unknown, despite having run Doha’s Hammad International Airport since 2014.
Al-Meer has a softer manner. He outlined his brave new world for Qatar Airways v2.0 on day one, telling employees in a personal letter that he wants “a culture of trust and empowerment. My vision as a CEO is to listen to the employees.”
And as this new world unfolds, the platform created by Al Baker endures. In early July, the carrier reported its best annual results in its history with a net profit of US$1.7 billion.
At Farnborough, Al-Meer said: “We are talking about a company that has a strategy in place, and whoever takes over should continue the strategy of the company.
“We have different personalities, but at the end of the day the end result should be the same: to continue to have the best airline in the world and to have the best financial and commercial return in the industry. This is our project.”
