Philadelphia will become the first destination in Qatar Airways’ U.S. route network to be served with the world’s newest aircraft. Qatar, the global launch customer of the Airbus A350 XWB, plans to begin operating an A350 on its daily service from Doha’s Hamad International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport from Jan. 1, 2016. The date will coincide with the Gulf carrier’s launch of new service to Los Angeles International Airport, one of three new Qatar destinations in the United States for 2016.

“We are very pleased to announce the launch of our first A350 service to the United States. Philadelphia is the sixth largest metropolitan area in the USA and is an important international business hub that is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies,” said Akbar Al Bakar, CEO, Qatar Airways Group. “With the launch of the new A350 service from Jan. 1 next year, Qatar Airways will be further strengthening its position in Philadelphia and the U.S. overall as an airline offering passengers a world-class travel experience.”

Starting March 1, 2016 and March 16, 2016, the A350 will operate one daily flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and to Boston Logan International Airport, respectively.

The state-of-the-art A350 on the daily flights to Philadelphia bring an additional capacity of more than 9 percent compared to the Boeing 777-200LR currently operating the route. Qatar’s daily capacity to Philadelphia will grow from 259 seats to 238 seats on the A350 aircraft, featuring 36 fully flat seats in business class arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration.