Interview: Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer

Badr Mohammed Al-Meer (pictured) became Group CEO at Qatar Airways in November 2023 following the resignation of CEO Akbar Al Baker after 27 years. He spoke with ATW about maintaining Qatar’s customer service standards, airline partners, fleet plans and aspirations in Africa.

How was your arrival as the new Qatar Airways Group CEO, succeeding long-time and globally renowned CEO Akbar Al Baker? For the previous 10 years, I was running [Doha Hamad International] airport, but on top of that I was running the catering, the ground handling, ground services, et cetera. So, I was involved in more than 60% of the Group’s business. Four years ago, I was acting as deputy group CEO. So, the people I’m dealing with know me already, they are familiar with me, know my way of working, and also the expectations that I have for them. And the expectations that we have for our suppliers are at the same level as always, even higher. So, it is not easier relations because the expectations are very high. We do not expect less than what we have always done at Qatar Airways.

Were you happy with how things were going at Hamad? I joined the airport one year before it started operations in 2013. It is the best airport in the world. Our on-time performance remains within the top two or three [hubs] globally. The airport is managed almost to perfection. But there is always room for improvement. We are going to open a new expansion next year. Our last expansion was completed in record time—in less than two years—and was basically a new terminal. The largest bag-gage-handling facility in the world, new taxiways, apron, a fuel farm; we finished it before the World Cup soccer tournament. Three months after the World Cup, we started the new expansion, which will be completed in March 2025.

At the Farnborough International Airshow in July, you unveiled the new QSuite business-class product. Do you already have the next new version in mind? The original QSuite, version 1, has been there for seven or eight years. And for us as an airline, we don’t wait for people to come and raise the benchmark for us. We continue to raise the bar always, and this is how we have led this industry for so many years. We just want to basically bring something new for customers. It is a tough job when you have customers that expect the best of you and expect that you will always be the best airline in the world. So, this is non-stop work for us. We announced the QSuite Generation 2 business class seat during Farnborough. Later that same week, we went to London to see the prototype of our next project. We are always busy planning ahead, and that is what happens when you have a strategy in place—you are always proactive. You have to have a plan that covers 10, 20, 30 years.

Several years ago, Qatar Airways had a plan to launch an airline in Saudi Arabia, Al Maha. Do you have plans to invest in Saudi Arabia again and what about other airline investments? For the time being we don’t have any plans [in Saudi Arabia]. We are focused on creating a bigger network to support our airline and our partners. We are looking not only where Qatar Airways lands, but also other partners such as IAG [British Airways parent International Airlines Group], in which we have a 25.2% investment. If there is a requirement to invest more, we will have to go back and discuss it with the owners of Qatar Airways, the Qatar investment authority, and we will see how to move forward. We also hold a 10% stake in LATAM, but there is nothing on the table to increase that share. [Editor’s note: Qatar Airways also has a 9.61% stake in Cathay Pacific Airways and in August 2024 agreed to buy a 25% stake in South African regional carrier Airlink.]

What about Rwandair? We might invest in Rwandair and in the new airport in Kigali, with 49% and 60% respectively. This is where we have our presence in Africa—in the central, in the heart of Africa. In general, Africa is underserved, but we have a good presence there. Almost 33 destinations. To Nigeria, for example, we have three flights a day. We also have a strong cooperation with Royal Air Maroc, and Qatar Airways has organic growth in the western and eastern parts of Africa. In the north we have Royal Air Maroc. The missing areas are central Africa, which is addressed with Rwandair, and then southern Africa.

Can an airline like Rwandair benefit from joint fleet investments through Qatar Airways? Of course. We always have this kind of relationship with our partners. And this is part of having a joint venture or partnership, to use synergies of our experience and knowledge in this area.

What is your current fleet status? Qatar Airways will be one of the first Boeing 777X customers, and the delivery date for the first quarter of 2026 has been communicated to us from Boeing. We trust in Boeing that this date can be achieved. And we have a lot of ideas for the 777X, which will of course have the QSuite Next Gen business-class product onboard. We have [Airbus] A350s, A321neos and [Boeing] 787-9s in the pipeline besides the 777X. We are in discussions with Airbus about how to accelerate the A321neo deliveries because we need them earlier. All Boeing 737 MAXs will be leased to IndiGo, and they will operate between India and Doha. We want Indigo to fly to Doha from its Indian destinations because we have a very strong relationship with them. Regarding the Airbus A380, eight aircraft are operating again. For the remaining two, it is almost impossible to bring them back into service because it would require a massive investment, so we use them for spares. The A380s continue to operate the same routes: to Paris, London, Australia, Bangkok and those cities with high demand or restrictions in traffic rights or slots. We will fly them for no longer than two-and-a-half to three years more. And we want to do some upgrades to the A380 cabins, such as offering high-speed Wi-Fi.

Are you happy with your oneworld airline partners? It is very important to have a very strong relationship with American Airlines, one of the most powerful carriers in the industry. With IAG, we have much more than just a oneworld alliance relationship. Royal Air Maroc is very close, as are Royal Jordanian and Iberia.