Passengers can now track baggage, manage their booking and manage stages of their journey through “My Trips” and relevant push notification.
DOHA, QATAR – In keeping up with passenger need for continuous engagement during their pre- and post-flight experience at their fingertips, Qatar Airways has rolled out innovative features to its mobile functionality over the course of 2016, resulting in greater information available to the passenger during and after the journey, including offering up to 12 languages in mobile web site for the ease and comfort of the customer.
All phases of the journey have been improved on the mobile platform, from search and purchase – now with even greater online payment options, including using mileage from the member’s Privilege Club accounts – to managing the booking, including changing flights and purchasing extra baggage. Recent improvements include push notifications for advising passenger of online check in availability, flight open for boarding, and even a gate change notification for Doha flight departures.
Passengers checking in baggage will now receive push notifications advising them of the checked baggage tag numbers, the time of baggage arriving at the carrousel in Doha, and the carrousel number for arrivals at Doha and many other airports. For the financial year 2015-2016, Qatar Airways handled 99.3 per cent of all checked baggage, more than 19 million bags, without a disruption. For those few bags that are routed incorrectly, passengers will now receive push notifications telling them where their bag is, giving them peace of mind.
Another important functionality introduced in the mobile app is “My Trips,” providing passengers a convenient means of seeing journey details such as a time line view, gate information, boarding time, bag tag information and an interactive virtual tour of the aircraft.
Srinivasan A. T., Chief Information Officer at Qatar Airways, said "Qatar Airways knows our passengers want to harness the power of technology to make the travel experience better, and we continually improve our online and app experience to ensure our customers find what they are looking for, transact what they prefer, and get the information they need – proactively, where possible – in order to be of the greatest service to them. Over the course of 2016, we made dozens of enhancements to our mobile offering, from adding payment options to adding 12 languages, all in the sincere desire to create the most convenience for the most people.”
Qatar Airways app is available on iTunes and Google Play, for both iOS and Android platforms. Features specific to iOS include: downloading the boarding pass to the wallet, Apple Pay, and locally storing Privilege Club details with Touch ID authentication.
Android Pay will be included in future releases, as will profile management, whereby passengers can link to their social media account, set their meal and seat preferences, and other features.
The Qatar Airways app has been downloaded 2.3 million times since its introduction in 2012.
Qatar Airways launches non-stop flights to Tbilisi
Qatar Airways also this weekend celebrated the launch of new direct flights from Doha to Tbilisi, increasing travel options to and from Georgia, while enhancing overall journey times. Qatar Airways now operates four direct flights to Tbilisi from Doha’s Hamad International Airport, complementing the existing seven weekly flights that operate via Baku in Azerbaijan.
Operated by a Qatar Airways Airbus A320 aircraft, the new direct scheduled flight time – of just over three hours from Doha – sees overall journey times drop significantly across the airline’s global network to and from this increasingly popular tourist destination, complemented by seamless transfers through the airline’s global home and hub, Hamad International Airport, in the State of Qatar.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, commented: “We are delighted to celebrate the launch of direct flights to Tbilisi, offering Georgian citizens shorter journey times to more than 150 destinations around the world. As both an economical and cultural hub, our new shorter flight times will attract many business and leisure passengers alike, while our tagged service via Baku will continue to offer a quick and efficient link between Azerbaijan and Georgia.”
Qatar Airways also increased service to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, from a four to five weekly service on 15 December, with an additional frequency each week due to the popularity of the route which was first inaugurated in May 2016.
The Airbus A320 aircraft offers a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy, featuring individual television screens providing all passengers in both cabins with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system Oryx One with 3,000 different entertainment options.
Qatar Airways Business Class is widely recognized as an industry leader recently receiving two significant accolades at the 2016 Skytrax World Airline Awards, with passengers choosing Qatar Airways as the World's Best Business Class and also Best Business Class Airline Lounge in the Middle East.
Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in aviation history with a network of over 150 exciting destinations. In 2016 travellers continued to see Qatar Airways expand its global reach, with services launched to Adelaide (Australia), Atlanta (USA), Birmingham (UK), Boston (USA), Los Angeles (USA), Marrakech (Morocco), Pisa (Italy), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), Sydney (Australia), Windhoek (Namibia), Yerevan (Armenia), Krabi (Thailand) and the Seychelles.
Qatar Airways receives Mercurys Award for Best Premium Service Concept 2016
Finally the airline has been awarded Best Premium Service Concept 2016 for exceptional on-board catering innovation from the Mercurys Awards. The accolade was presented to the airline during a ceremony held at the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi, as part of the SIAL Middle East and On-board Catering show.
The Mercurys is a long-established international travel catering award that recognises exceptional food and beverage services delivered throughout the travel industry.
Qatar Airways was commended for providing its premium passengers with healthy and nourishing menu choices using the freshest of ingredients. Qatar Airways serves an award-winning on-board menu offering premium passengers extraordinary cuisine designed by world-renowned chefs as well as on-demand a la carte service.
Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Customer Experience, Mr. Rossen Dimitrov, said, “It is an honour to be named as the Best Premium Service Concept provider at the Mercurys Awards 2016. This prestigious industry award recognises the commitment that Qatar Airways has to providing its travellers with the very best service and is testament to our investment in innovation, and our dedication to exceeding our passengers’ expectations.”
This latest award joins a number of many distinguished accolades the airline has recently won, having been named Airline of the Year by the CAPA Centre for Aviation, Best Full Service Airline in Western Asia at the FTE Asia Expo, Middle East Airline of the Year at the Aviation Business Awards and Best Business Class as well as Best Middle Eastern Airline at the Business Travellers Awards; to name but a few.
Qatar Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in aviation history, operating one of the youngest fleets with an average age of five years. With a rapidly growing network of more than 150 destinations across six continents, Qatar Airways connects passengers globally through its state-of-the-art hub at Hamad International Airport in Doha.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
