Qatar Airways has announced Frankfurt as the first route for its A350 Xtra Wide Body (XWB) aircraft.
Frankfurt will be operated non-stop daily with an A350 starting from January next year.
Qatar Airways is the global launch operator of the A350 XWB and the programme will achieve another major milestone once the airline receives its first aircraft before the end of this year.
Upon delivery, following several weeks of induction preparation, Qatar Airways will be set to introduce its first commercial service to the German business hub of Frankfurt.
The airline has chosen the European city for its first route for the XWB service because of the significant capacity the aircraft provides for the comfort of its business and leisure travellers.
Qatar Airways currently flies twice-daily to Frankfurt and the double pairings will both be operated by an A350 on the route.
Initially, QR067/068 will be the first pairing with the A350, followed shortly by QR069/70.
The 283 seats are divided across a dual cabin layout, configured in business class and economy class - 36 and 247 seats, respectively.
Qatar Airways has 80 Airbus A350s on order and expects to induct the first eight production aircraft into its fleet before 2015 year-end.
Akbar al-Baker, Group chief executive of Qatar Airways, said: “Qatar Airways looks forward to inaugurating our first A350 on the Doha-Frankfurt route, and to very soon introducing this next-generation aircraft on many other cities offered on the airline’s extensive network.”
Before the end of this year, the airline will reach 146 destinations, launching new services to Djibouti on October 26 and Asmara in Eritrea on December 4.
Qatar Airways took delivery of its first double-decker A380 in September and it is currently operated daily on the Doha-London Heathrow route.
