Qatar Airways has been awarded the APEX Passenger Choice award for ‘Best Overall Airline: Middle East’; ‘Best Food and Beverage: Middle East’; ‘Best Cabin Service: Middle East’; and ‘Best Seat Comfort: Middle East’ by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX).

The latest set of awards were presented to the airline during a ceremony at APEX Asia held on 14 March in Shanghai, where the airline also received a 2018 Five-Star APEX Official Airline rating.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “As an airline, we constantly seek to improve the in-flight experience for all of our customers, no matter which class they are flying in. We want their experience with Qatar Airways to exceed all their expectations and to be truly better than anything they have experienced before. As such, we are particularly excited to receive these awards for food and beverage, cabin service and seat comfort, as they are based on customer feedback. We greatly value the opinion of all of our passengers, and we will continue to push the boundaries of what flying can be and setting a new standard for the industry.”

The APEX awards come in tandem with a series of recent innovations announced by the airline to continually improve the passenger experience, including enhancements to the airline’s in-flight catering, with a new bespoke Pre-Select Dining service for its First and Business Class passengers, giving them even more choice and freedom to create a personalised à la carte dining experience every time they travel on long-haul flights from Doha. The airline also recently launched a premium global chauffeur service for passengers, offering door-to-door seamless transfers.

Qatar Airways last year launched its groundbreaking new Business Class seat, Qsuite, featuring the industry’s first-ever double bed available in Business Class, with privacy panels that stow away, allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room. Adjustable panels and movable TV monitors on the centre four seats allow colleagues, friends or families travelling together to transform their space into a private suite, giving them the option to work, dine and socialise together. These new features provide the ultimate customisable travel experience that enables passengers to create an environment that suits their own unique needs.

Qatar Airways enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2017, with the airline claiming more than 50 individual awards across multiple categories, demonstrating its continued commitment to exceeding passenger expectations with its innovative approach to product development and dedication to customer experience.

Leading the host of awards received by the airline last year is the prestigious accolade of 2017 ‘Airline of the Year,’ awarded by the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, which was held at the Paris Air Show. This is the fourth time that Qatar Airways has been given this global recognition. In addition to being voted Best Airline by travellers from around the world, Qatar’s national carrier also won a raft of other major awards at the ceremony, including ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ ‘World’s Best Business Class’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge’.

Earlier this month, Qatar Airways revealed a host of forthcoming global destinations in line with its expedited expansion plans, including the announcement that it will be the first Gulf carrier to begin direct service to Luxembourg. Other exciting new destinations to be launched by the airline include London Gatwick, United Kingdom; Cardiff, United Kingdom; Lisbon, Portugal; Tallinn, Estonia; Valletta, Malta; Cebu and Davao, Philippines; Langkawi, Malaysia; Da Nang, Vietnam; Bodrum, Antalya and Hatay, Turkey; Mykonos and Thessaloniki, Greece and Málaga, Spain.