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  • Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Honored With APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement Award

    Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Honored With APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement Award

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    LONG BEACH, Calif., September 21, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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    The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) honored Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, as the recipient of the CEO Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday, Sept. 20, during the APEX/IFSA Awards Ceremony at APEX/IFSA Global EXPO. This award recognizes industry leaders and their long-term efforts, commitment, and dedication to the enhancement of the passenger experience. APEX celebrates leadership visionaries who not only elevate their own brand, but also inspire progress across the aviation landscape.  

    “As only the sixth-ever APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement winner in our five-decade history, we salute His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, the driving force behind Qatar Airways’ meteoric rise from its inception to a global aviation titan. His relentless pursuit of excellence has ushered in groundbreaking in-flight entertainment, the revolutionary Qsuite experience, which ignited a competitive surge among global airlines in business class luxury, and a service quality that transcends the conventional five-star rating to achieve an APEX World Class status. His legacy epitomizes the power of dedication, innovation, and fervor in sculpting an unparalleled airline customer journey,” said Dr. Joe Leader, APEX CEO. 

    Under H.E. Mr. Al Baker’s visionary leadership, Qatar Airways has consistently set industry benchmarks and inspired global trends, including: 

    • Innovation in Passenger Comfort: The introduction of the Qsuite, which helped spark a trend of suite doors in business class across leading global airlines. 
    • World-Class In-Flight Entertainment: Offering one of the world’s most extensive in-flight entertainment libraries, prompting airlines worldwide to further enhance their onboard content portfolios. 
    • Pandemic Response and Health Measures: Maintaining the most global connectivity during the pandemic and instituting gold-standard health-check procedures, influencing airlines globally to elevate their health and safety measures. 
    • Customer-Centric Approach: Achieving global acclaim, Qatar Airways showcases a service ethos that prioritizes travelers’ needs and desires, setting a gold standard in passenger satisfaction. 
    • Diverse Culinary Offerings: In the realm of aviation gastronomy, Qatar Airways has set culinary trends with its gourmet in-flight dining. Collaborations with renowned chefs have further elevated its onboard menu offerings. 
    • Seamless Connectivity and Network Expansion: With its strategic vision, Qatar Airways has crafted a blueprint for global connectivity, optimizing flight routes and ensuring passengers experience minimal layover times. For extended layovers, the airline fostered national innovations, making a stopover in Qatar seamless for its travelers. 
    • Personalized Services for Diverse Accessibility Needs: Qatar’s flagship carrier stands out for its emphasis on inclusivity, offering tailored services that cater to the diverse needs of its global clientele requiring accessibility services. 
    • Pioneering In-Flight Connectivity: Leading the charge in technological advancements, Qatar Airways generously offers complimentary connectivity packages to its loyal passengers, raising the bar for in-flight digital experiences. 

    Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said, “I am deeply honoured to accept the CEO Lifetime Achievement Award from the Airline Passenger Experience Association. Over the last decades, Qatar Airways has grown to become one of the most recognizable and trusted names in the industry, synonymous with customer service quality and luxury. It is owing to the dedication of our employees across the world that our award-winning airline continues to outperform at the top level of our industry. I would like to thank the APEX team for their recognition and hope to continue surpassing all expectations for Qatar Airways in the years to come.” 

    During the event, H.E. Mr. Al Baker also accepted the airline’s 2024 APEX World Class Award, a step beyond APEX Five Stars, voted exclusively by passengers. In addition, the airline secured the APEX Award for Best Entertainment in the Middle East, as well as the APEX Award for Global Best Food & Beverage. The latter honor is based solely on verified and certified passenger feedback.  

    About the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX)  

    As a global non-profit and one of the world’s largest international airline associations, APEX advances passenger experience with the backing of nearly every major airline and valued supplier over the past five decades.  In conjunction with both the International Flight Services Association (IFSA) and Future Travel Experience (FTE), APEX serves the full spectrum of the end-to-end travel experience. APEX reinvests all its resources to serving its members, strengthening the worldwide airline industry, advancing thought-leadership, fostering business opportunities via events, developing global initiatives, setting key airline standards, and highlighting well-deserved recognition across our industry.  

    About Qatar Airways  

    A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways won the “World’s Best Business Class” for the 10th time at the 2023 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organization Skytrax. The airline continues to be synonymous with excellence, also taking home Best Airline in the Middle East, World’s Best Business Class Lounge and World’s Best Business Class Lounge Dining at the prestigious awards held during the 2023 Paris Air Show. Qatar Airways is an unprecedented seven-time winner of the “World’s Best Airline” voted by Skytrax (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022). 

    Qatar Airways currently flies to more than 160 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, voted by Skytrax as the “World’s Best Airport” in 2021 and 2022, consecutively. This year, Hamad International Airport has been ranked by Skytrax as the second-best airport in the world, and received the “Best Airport in the Middle East” accolade for the ninth time in a row, as well as “World’s Best Airport Shopping.”  

    Source: APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association)

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  • Qatar’s Hamad Airport Unveils Extravagant Luxury Showcase Just Days Before FIFA World Cup

    Qatar’s Hamad Airport Unveils Extravagant Luxury Showcase Just Days Before FIFA World Cup

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    Grand garden designs are all the rage in airports at the moment. Regular travelers may be familiar with Singapore Changi Airport’s Jewel, which opened before the pandemic, while the new terminal at India’s Bengaluru Airport also offers large expanses of greenery.

    Possibly outdoing both of them is Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha. Its latest expansion has transformed the terminal into an indoor tropical oasis, complete with a 6,000 square foot water feature and a luxury line-up of branded boutiques in very close proximity that few capital cities could match. All of it just before the FIFA World Cup kicks off on November 20.

    Called The Orchard, the 65,000 square foot garden—filled with more than 300 trees and over 25,000 plants sourced from sustainable forests around the world—sits at the center of the futuristic terminal expansion. Around it on the upper floor, the airport’s retailer, Qatar Duty Free, has managed to attract a roll call of the world’s biggest luxury names in some pretty stunning digital boutiques.

    Two of the best are from Louis Vuitton and Fendi, but also present is the first Dior store at HIA, the first Thom Browne store in an airport plus Boss, Bulgari, Burberry, Gucci, Moncler, Montblanc, Omega, Polo Ralph Lauren
    RL
    , Tiffany, Zegna and more. A FIFA shop is also present as is the largest Ray-Ban store in an airport.

    HIA had been named Skytrax’s world’s best airport for two years running before this latest addition. Together with Qatar Duty Free, both operations are subsidiaries of Qatar Airways Group whose CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said that the airport had grown to become “the ultimate example of a successful, sustainable global facility.” He added: “The environment here speaks for itself; it is unmatched anywhere in the world.”

    Well-timed opening

    With the FIFA World Cup dogged by controversy, Qatar Airways is ensuring it is on top form during the lead-in to the event, and during it, to avoid more negative commentary. As well as timing the reveal of the new extension and its upscale shopping perfectly, it has also put in place contingencies to cater to the influx of air travelers who, it is hoped, will be a source of significant extra retail revenue in the coming weeks.

    At a press conference on Thursday, Al Baker reminded the media that Qatar’s former lead gateway, Doha International Airport, has been fully activated since September 15. The facility is taking all point-to-point traffic to the city as a way of easing the pressure on HIA. To be doubly sure of no capacity issues, Qatar Airways has “flattened the peak” at the hub by cutting 18 destinations during the period of the tournament.

    Al Baker did hold back on the criticism that has come Qatar’s way in recent days, saying: “People cannot accept that a small country like Qatar has won the world’s largest sporting event. Congratulations to my beloved country. This extension mark a milestone in our FIFA journey which we have all been looking forward to for the past 12 years.”

    The expansion takes HIA’s capacity up from 40 million passengers to 58 million annually. Future expansions will enable the gateway to handle 75 million travelers and the first phase of those will begin in January 2023 by extending the concourses on either side of The Orchard and which may allow for yet more retail facilities.

    These developments, along with the high-end retail offer, reinforce HIA’s position as a global connecting air hub with 150 destinations and growing. The shopping and service elements are also drivers of non-aeronautical revenue, and profitability in particular. Qatar Airways Group does not break out its retail income but in the year ending March 2022, overall sales exceeded the same period to March 2020, while the group swung from a huge loss of over $4 billion in FY21 to a profit of $1.5 billion in FY22.

    Prior to opening The Orchard, HIA had just over 430,000 square feet of duty-free and concession space housing more than 90 luxury and accessible stores, as well as more than 30 restaurants and cafés. The expansion project has delivered an additional 126,000 square feet of retail and F&B.

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    Kevin Rozario, Contributor

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