If Arabian Travel Market 2026 is meant to show where travel is heading, Qatar Airways has arrived in Dubai with plenty to put in the window.

The Doha-based carrier is using this week’s show at Dubai World Trade Centre to display a wide mix of new ideas. It includes Qsuite Next Gen, fast Starlink Wi-Fi, AI search, loyalty tools, and even a virtual Doha in Fortnite. A few years ago, half of that list would have sounded more at home at a tech show than an airline stand.

That is exactly the point.

ATM 2026 runs from 14 to 17 September after its dates were changed earlier this year. Its theme is “Travel 2040: Driving New Frontiers Through Innovation and Technology”. Qatar Airways has taken the theme seriously. It is showing how the trip may begin well before a passenger reaches the airport. It may also continue in digital form long after the bags reach the carousel.

Starlink shifts from novelty to expectation

The most important part of the display may also be the least glamorous. It is Wi-Fi.

Qatar Airways says it now operates up to 340 Starlink-enabled flights each day. More than 150 of its widebody aircraft have the service. Since Starlink went live on the airline in October 2024, more than 25 million passengers have connected on more than 96,000 flights.

Those figures matter because passenger habits are changing fast. Inflight Wi-Fi was once a handy extra when it worked. When it did not, most travellers simply shrugged and ordered another coffee. That patience is fading.

For many people, a long flight is now part office, part cinema and part message hub. Fast internet can turn hours in the air into useful time. That is especially important for corporate travellers and people who need to stay in touch.

Qatar Airways has moved quickly. In August, it said it had fitted 150 widebody aircraft with Starlink. It also became the first airline to operate a Starlink-equipped Boeing 787-9. The carrier says it remains on track to finish the rollout across its Boeing 787 fleet by the end of 2026.

For travel advisers and corporate buyers, this is not a small product detail. Connectivity is becoming part of the fare value. It can shape which airline a traveller prefers on a long route.

Qsuite Next Gen brings the bed button

The cabin hasn’t been forgotten while all that data flies above the clouds.

Qsuite Next Gen is also on show in Dubai. ATM visitors can inspect Qatar Airways’ latest Business Class concept and test its mix of privacy, comfort and control.

The product includes movable 4K OLED screens, adjustable privacy settings and digital dividers. The Quad Suite is built for up to four people. The Companion Suite is designed for two.

Then there is the dedicated “Make My Bed” button for the airline’s turn-down service. Aviation has spent more than a century making flight faster, safer and smarter. It has now also found a very polished way to ask for the duvet.

The joke should not hide the business case. Premium cabins are still a fiercely competitive field. Airlines can copy fares. They can add frequencies. But a strong cabin product can give passengers a reason to seek out one brand over another.

Qatar Airways is betting that privacy and choice will remain central to that decision.

AI moves into search and loyalty

The airline is also showing two AI-led tools at ATM: Q Search and Infinite Awards.

Q Search is built into the Qatar Airways website ecosystem. It lets users ask questions in natural language and receive answers about the airline’s products and services. Qatar Airways introduced the technology publicly at Web Summit Qatar earlier this year before bringing it to ATM.

That sounds simple, but the change is important. Many airline websites still make customers hunt through menus, tabs and help pages. A good chat-style search tool can cut through that maze. The aim is to let the customer ask a plain question and get a plain answer.

Infinite Awards applies a similar idea to loyalty.

The tool is designed for Qatar Airways Privilege Club members. It helps them figure out how to collect Avios and find ways to earn more. It can also suggest trip ideas based on their interests and travel plans.

This matters because airline loyalty schemes are now major businesses. They are no longer just a card in the wallet and a distant hope of an upgrade. They link airlines with banks, hotels, shops and many other partners.

If members can understand the system more easily, they may use it more often. That is good for the member. It can also be very good for the airline.

Fortnite becomes a tourism channel

And then there is QVerse Island.

Qatar Airways launched its first digital destination in Fortnite earlier this year. It builds parts of Doha and Hamad International Airport inside the game. Players can explore, take on missions and move through virtual versions of local sights.

Sama, Qatar Airways’ digital cabin crew character, guides them.

At ATM, visitors can try QVerse Island at two hands-on stations. To some travel veterans, this may sound like an airline stand has wandered into a gaming convention.

There is method in it.

Younger travellers often meet brands and places through games, social platforms and digital worlds. Many are not waiting for a glossy travel brochure to land on the kitchen table.

For Qatar Airways, QVerse is both marketing and a test bed. It puts Doha, Hamad International Airport and the airline brand in front of a different audience. It also gives the carrier a way to learn how people respond to travel content inside a game.

Six tourism deals add real-world weight

For all the digital sparkle, Qatar Airways has also been doing some good old-fashioned travel business at ATM.

The airline announced new Memoranda of Understanding with the Kenya Tourism Board, Jordan Tourism Board, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Tourism Malaysia, Visit Newport Beach and Visit Maldives.

The aim is to support tourism promotion and drive travel through Doha and Hamad International Airport. The partners will also look at new ways to promote leisure travel in key markets.

This is where the digital story meets the old rules of aviation. A clever search tool can inspire a trip. A loyalty scheme can help sell it. Fast Wi-Fi can improve the flight. But airlines still need places people want to visit.

Tourism boards need seats and market access. Airlines need demand to fill those seats. The basic partnership still works because both sides have something the other needs.

Why Australian travel sellers should watch

There is a clear Australian link, too.

Qatar Airways said on 10 September that its 2026–27 winter network will grow to more than 170 destinations. Canberra services via Melbourne are due to resume from 9 December 2026. The airline is also rolling Starlink out across more long-haul flying, including routes serving Australasia.

For Australian travel sellers, the wider message is worth noting.

The airline race is no longer fought only with schedules, fares and seat width. It now includes Wi-Fi, AI, loyalty tools, digital search, games, content and tourism deals.

None of those replaces good service. Nor do they make a poor timetable suddenly useful. But together they can shape how easy an airline is to sell and how attractive it feels to a traveller.

That is what makes the Qatar Airways pavilion at ATM 2026 more than a showcase of shiny toys. It is a snapshot of where airline competition is heading.

The future of flight may still depend on getting people safely from A to B. The difference is that passengers now expect much more before, during, and after those two letters.

Qatar Airways appears determined to make sure it is already there when they arrive.

 

By: May Marclay – © 2026, on location at ATM Dubai

Read Time: 5 minutes.

 

Author Bio:

May Marclay’s career hasn’t followed a straight line, and she’s better for it. She began in real estate, then moved into hospitality, finding her rhythm with Centara in the Maldives. There, she worked the Asian markets the old-fashioned way: building trust, closing deals, and turning conversations into lasting business.

The UAE sharpened its focus. At IHG, supporting an Area General Manager, she saw the machinery of a major travel hub from the inside, no gloss, just how things actually get done.

Now, with her sights set on healthcare, May brings a broader lens than most. She speaks three languages, reads widely, travels with intent, and writes with the calm assurance of someone who understands both the detail and the bigger picture without needing to say so too loudly.

 

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