Passengers still rank Qatar Airways’ Qsuite as the world’s top business class nearly a decade after launch – now Next Gen is on the way

Almost a decade after Qatar Airways unveiled Qsuite, passengers still rate it as the best business class in the world.

Qatar Airways took first place for Preferred Business Class in the 2026 AirlineRatings.com Flyers’ Choice Awards, ahead of Emirates in second place and Singapore Airlines in third. Unlike AirlineRatings.com’s editorial awards, the Flyers’ Choice results are based entirely on votes from passengers.

The unique Qsuite has staying power. Airline business class seats have changed dramatically since Qatar Airways first unveiled the product in 2017. Privacy doors are more common, direct aisle access is expected and several airlines have introduced suites with larger screens, more storage and improved technology.

Yet passengers still picked Qsuite.

The product is now approaching its tenth anniversary and Qatar Airways is building on its success with the new Qsuite Next Gen.

Why Qatar Airways’ Qsuite transformed business class travel

Qatar Airways unveiled the original Qsuite at ITB Berlin in March 2017. It was an unusually ambitious business class product for the time.

Its headline feature was the industry’s first double bed in business class, but the product’s unique “Quad” format made it flexible to accommodate a variety of passengers. Qatar Airways included movable privacy panels with the four-seat arrangement that allowed families, friends or colleagues to create a shared space.

The alternating forward- and rear-facing 1-2-1 configuration was designed around flexibility rather than simply giving every passenger the same enclosed seat.

The airline offers four ways of using Qsuite: Single Suite, Twin Suite, Double Suite and The Quad.

Solo travellers can close the door and create a private room. Couples in selected centre seats can lower the divider between them and rest in a double bed. Groups of four can open all partitions around the centre seats to dine, work or socialise together.

Many competitors have added privacy doors to business class, but none have replicated the Qsuite’s ability to connect four individual seats in one space.

The first Qsuite-equipped Boeing 777 was displayed at the Paris Air Show in June 2017 before entering passenger service between Doha and London Heathrow on 24 June.

Qatar Airways then progressively expanded the product across its long-haul fleet and network.

Why Qsuite remains one of the world’s best business class products

Airline business class competition has intensified considerably since 2017.

British Airways introduced its Club Suite, Delta expanded its Delta One Suites and several other global carriers have developed private business class cabin products.

Cathay Pacific’s Aria Suite is one of the newest competitors. It ranked in first place among its competitors in North East Asia.

AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Petersen specifically highlighted it when discussing the 2026 results. “I expected Cathay Pacific to feature more strongly in Business Class because its Aria Suite is a spectacular product,” she stated. “However, these are the Flyers’ Choice Awards, so the results reflect the experiences of the travelling public rather than an editorial assessment.”

Qatar Airways finished ahead of its newer rivals in the passenger vote in part because the original concept anticipated where business class was heading and delivered something refreshing. It’s had time to build a positive reputation since.

Privacy doors, direct aisle access and fully flat beds have become standard expectations at the top end of the market. Qsuite offered all three years ago, while adding the double-bed and Quad configurations that remain distinctive.

That flexibility has helped prevent a nine-year-old seat from feeling its age.

Which Qatar Airways aircraft have Qsuite?

Qatar Airways has spent the years since Qsuite’s introduction refining its business class while experimenting with a variety of cabin products.

As a result, Qsuite has never been fitted across the entire Qatar Airways fleet. Aircraft type alone does not always guarantee the product, particularly among the airline’s Airbus A350s and Boeing 777s where business class can vary between QSuite and other private suites.

Qatar Airways also chose a different solution for its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

When the 787-9 entered service in 2021, the airline introduced an Adient Ascent-based Business Class Suite rather than installing the original Qsuite.

The 30-seat cabin is arranged 1-2-1 and retains many of the features passengers expect from Qatar Airways business class, including direct aisle access and sliding privacy doors. The seat converts into a 79-inch fully flat bed and includes wireless device charging. Centre passengers can also lower the divider between adjoining suites.

It is an excellent business class product in its own right, but it does not match the Qsuite’s Quad arrangement.

The airline’s next step is more ambitious.

What is Qatar Airway’s Qsuite Next Gen?

Qatar Airways revealed Qsuite Next Gen at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2024.

The new Quad Suite provides more space for four passengers travelling together, with movable 4K OLED entertainment screens that can be repositioned to open the space. The dividers are also higher, providing more privacy for passengers flying on separate suites.

Qatar Airways has also developed a Companion Suite beside the window allowing two passengers to create a shared private space while both retain access to the view.

The airline says Qsuite Next Gen will offer wider and longer lie-flat beds, improved double beds, lockable storage drawers and touchscreen passenger control units. Entertainment screens will have Bluetooth connectivity.

It is essentially an evolution of the idea introduced in 2017. It offers an individual business class passenger a private suite and allows several seats to become a shared space for those travelling together.

Why Qsuite Next Gen has been delayed

Passengers have been waiting considerably longer than Qatar Airways originally expected to put Qsuite Next Gen into service.

The product was developed for Qatar Airways’ new Boeing 777-9 fleet. Qatar Airways has one of the world’s largest 777X commitments with 124 aircraft on order. In 2024, it announced that its future 777-9 business class cabins would feature Qsuite Next Gen.

Repeated delays to Boeing’s 777X programme have pushed back the arrival of the new cabin as well.

Qatar Airways is not alone in this 777X predicament. Emirates also developed its “game changer” first class for the 777X in 2018, and installed it on a few 777-300ERs amid delays with the new widebody programme. By the time Emirates gets its 777X aircraft, the unique first class product will also be a decade old.

Why Qsuite remains a business class leader nearly a decade later

Longevity is difficult in premium aircraft cabins.

Airlines generally have to design seats years before passengers first experience them, with certification, manufacturing, and aircraft production adding to the timeline. Fleet retrofit programmes can then keep a product flying for another decade or longer.

The intense competition to provide a superior product comes with the risk that an expensive new cabin can quickly appear dated.

Qsuite has avoided this problem because its biggest innovations were not features that competitors could easily match with larger screens or newer technology. The Qsuite focused on how passengers use the physical space around their seats.

Privacy for one passenger, a double bed for two, and a shared room for four remain useful features regardless of how quickly onboard technology changes.

The 2026 Flyers’ Choice result suggests passengers still value that formula. And with Qsuite Next Gen waiting in the wings, Qatar Airways is betting that the concept still has plenty of life left in it.