Qatar Airways has continued leading the recovery of international travel during the past year through a number of industry-leading initiatives from introducing contactless solutions, a digital health passport and UV cabin cleaning tech to operating the world’s first fully COVID-19 vaccinated flight. To find out more about how the carrier has adapted its operations to the changing customer needs, FTE spoke to Genevieve Rosario, Head of Product Development & Service Design, Qatar Airways, ahead of her participation at the upcoming FTE APEX Virtual Expo 2021 on 25-26 May.
FTE: How has Qatar Airways adapted its operations from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Genevieve Rosario: The past year has been one of the most challenging in the history of aviation. I am incredibly proud at how our leadership has managed our operations during these challenging times. The airline has never shied away from a challenge, and we have never stopped flying throughout the entire pandemic. So, for us it has been a journey of continuous innovation from day one. While many airlines used this as an opportunity to cut back on their service offering, we found new and innovative ways to hold on to and deliver to our signature high standards of service across all cabin classes. We have continued to invest in the customer experience, ensuring elevated levels of hygiene standards, technology, and even invested in new products and services. We also continued to engage with our customers on board and in our lounges, through celebrating the festivities that we know are special to them. We worked hard to achieve all of these and are proud to be the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax. Hamad International Airport (HIA) was also the first and only airport in the…