Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) has unveiled Frankfurt International as its maiden A350-900 destination. With its first aircraft of the type, A7-ALA (cn 6), set to be delivered between December 8 to 10, the carrier plans to deploy the type into service in early January next year.

"Upon delivery, following several weeks of induction preparation, Qatar Airways will then be set to introduce its first commercial service to the German business hub city of Frankfurt," the carrier said. "Qatar Airways currently flies twice-daily to Frankfurt, and the double pairings will both be operated by an A350 on the route. Initially QR067/068 will be the first pairing with the A350, followed shortly by QR069/70."

As the type's launch customer, Qatar Airways expects to take delivery of eight out of the 43 of the type it has on order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) by the end of next year. Qatar Airways also has orders for 37 of the larger A350-1000 models.