Business class seats have changed more in the last nine years than in the previous thirty, and the one that started it is still winning. Qatar Airways’ Qsuite — unveiled at ITB Berlin in March 2017, first flown Doha–London Heathrow on 24 June that year — took first place for Preferred Business Class in the 2026 AirlineRatings.com Flyers’ Choice Awards, ahead of Emirates in second and Singapore Airlines in third. Unlike editorial awards, Flyers’ Choice is decided entirely by passenger votes.
The reason is not the screen or the door; every serious rival now has both. It is the way the Qsuite uses space: a private room for one, a double bed for two, and the Quad, four seats that open into a shared cabin for a family or a team. Here are the facts, which Qatar aircraft actually carry it, and what the delayed Qsuite Next Gen changes when it arrives on the Airbus A350-1000.
Qatar Airways Qsuite: Key Facts
- Unveiled: ITB Berlin, March 2017; first passenger flight Doha–London Heathrow, 24 June 2017, on a Boeing 777
- 2026 award: first place, Preferred Business Class, AirlineRatings.com Flyers’ Choice Awards 2026 (passenger vote); Emirates second, Singapore Airlines third
- Layout: alternating forward- and rear-facing 1-2-1 with sliding doors; four modes — Single Suite, Twin Suite, Double Suite (the industry’s first business class double bed) and The Quad, where the centre partitions open for four
- Which aircraft: Qsuite flies on most Boeing 777-300ERs and many Airbus A350-900s and A350-1000s, but not on every one — business class on the 777 and A350 fleets varies between Qsuite and older private suites, so the flight number decides
- Not Qsuite: Boeing 787-9s carry a 30-seat 1-2-1 Adient Ascent suite with doors, a 79-inch bed and wireless charging, but no Quad; Airbus A380s keep an older cabin
- Qsuite Next Gen: revealed at Farnborough on 22 July 2024; designed by Acumen and built by Elevate Aircraft Seating (the Boeing–Adient joint venture that also supplied the 787-9 seats), replacing Collins Aerospace
- Next Gen features: wider, longer beds and improved doubles; taller, fully retractable digitally controlled dividers and electronic doors; lockable storage drawers; touchscreen control units; a movable 4K OLED screen in the Quad; Bluetooth; a new window-side Companion Suite for two
- When: first on Airbus A350-1000 deliveries later in 2026 (13 still on order), then on Boeing 777-9s from 2027 — the 777-9 was the intended launch aircraft before Boeing’s certification delays
- First Class returns: Qatar has announced a standalone First Class cabin for the 777-9, its first true First since the A380
- Awards seats: Avios space opens 355 days out; a Qsuite award from the United States to Doha starts around 70,000 Avios one way through Privilege Club
- Fares: not published; see below
Why a 2017 Seat Still Beats the New Ones
Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite, Emirates’ retrofitted 777s, Riyadh Air’s Business Elite and United’s Polaris Studio have all arrived since 2024 with bigger screens, better storage and doors that close. AirlineRatings’ chief executive Sharon Petersen admitted she had expected Cathay to place higher; passengers voted for Qatar anyway. The Qsuite’s advantage was never technology — it was the decision in 2017 to treat business class as a set of rooms. Solo travellers close the door. Couples in the centre pairs lower the divider for a double bed. Four passengers open every partition around the centre block and dine at one table. No competitor has matched the Quad, and no amount of screen size replaces it for a family flying Europe to Asia.
That is also why the product has aged well. A 4K panel from 2017 looks its age; a double bed does not.
Which Qatar Airways Flight Actually Has It
Qatar never fitted Qsuite across the whole fleet, and this is the trap for anyone paying for it. The 777-300ERs and A350s are where it lives, but both types also fly with earlier private suites, and the A380s have the oldest business cabin in the fleet. The Boeing 787-9, Qatar’s newest long-haul type, deliberately does not carry Qsuite at all: it flies a 30-seat Adient Ascent suite in 1-2-1 with a sliding door, a 79-inch flat bed, wireless charging and a lowerable centre divider — an excellent seat in its own right, without the Quad.
Practically, that means checking the seat map before booking. Qsuite shows as the alternating forward/rear 1-2-1 with the distinctive angled centre pairs; the 787-9 suite reads as a conventional forward-facing 1-2-1. On routes served by several aircraft types in a day — London, Bangkok, Singapore — the flight number, not the destination, decides your seat.
Tip: if you are two, book the rear-facing centre pair in a Qsuite cabin for the double bed. If you are four, the Quad is the same four seats with the partitions open — sit together, and ask the crew to open them after take-off.
Qsuite Next Gen: Later, and Better for It
Qatar unveiled the Qsuite Next Gen at Farnborough on 22 July 2024 for a Boeing 777-9 that was supposed to arrive the following year. The 777-9 is now not expected before 2027, so the launch moves to the Airbus A350-1000, with the first Next Gen-equipped aircraft due later in 2026 and the 777-9s to follow. In the meantime Qatar switched seat maker, from Collins Aerospace to Elevate Aircraft Seating, the Boeing–Adient venture that built the 787-9 seats.
The design keeps the staggered 1-2-1 and the four modes but rebuilds everything around them: wider and longer beds, a better double, dividers that retract fully and stand taller, electronic doors, lockable drawers, touchscreen controls, Bluetooth audio and a 4K OLED screen in the Quad that swings out of the way to open the space. The new Companion Suite pairs two window seats into a shared private space where both keep the view. Simple Flying has argued the delay let Qatar watch Emirates’ $5 billion 777 retrofit and adjust — the doors, for instance, grew about two inches taller.
The stranger consequence is up front: Qatar has announced a new standalone First Class for the 777-9, because Next Gen is close enough to first class that the airline needed something above it.
Qatar Against the Gulf Rivals I Have Flown
I have not reviewed Qsuite on the magazine yet, so this stays a preview. My yardsticks are its two neighbours. On Etihad’s 787-9 from Abu Dhabi to Brussels I rated the 1-2-1 seat and a roughly €2,500 Europe–Asia return fare 3.5 out of 5 — a fare that is often half of Qatar’s on comparable routes — marked down for the wine and a crowded lounge. On Emirates’ older 777 from Malé the wood-panelled cabin and seat were excellent and the entertainment system had aged badly. Qatar charges the premium of the three; the Quad and the double bed are what it is charging for, and the 2026 vote says passengers think it is worth it.
How Much Does It Cost?
Qatar Airways does not publish rack fares for Qsuite and does not price it separately from its other business class seats — a Qsuite 777 and a 787-9 on the same route sell at the same fare, which is why the aircraft check above matters. Qatar’s business fares typically sit above Etihad’s on Europe–Asia routings via the Gulf; my Etihad return at about €2,500 was frequently half the Qatar price on the same dates. Award seats through Privilege Club open 355 days ahead, from around 70,000 Avios one way between the United States and Doha.
Flight prices do move between platforms. The same business class seat on the same date is not always the same price on the airline’s own site, Trip.com and Expedia: point-of-sale currency, consolidator fares and what is bundled into the ticket can shift the fare by a few percent — and occasionally by much more on premium cabins booked out of Asia. So before I pay I run the same dates through Aviasales, which scans dozens of booking sites at once, then check Trip.com (often the sharpest on Asian routes) and Expedia (strongest when you add a hotel to the same booking). One caveat: a ticket bought through a booking site is changed or refunded through that site, not the airline, so read the fare rules before you buy.
The world’s best business class by passenger vote is a nine-year-old seat with a double bed — and the version replacing it lands on the A350-1000 before the year is out.
Photos © Qatar Airways
This preview is based on official announcements — I haven’t reviewed Qsuite yet. Read more about how I review or visit my Work With Me page.
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