I saw the ad in Flight - nice looking 777! I doubt any CTC trainees would see that aircraft for a long time. The other option would be to take the Easyjet scheme, fly for Easyjet for 5-7 years and then apply to Qatar again with competitive Airbus experience down the road if you get tired of earlies/lates and the same routes over and over and over. Who knows what the European airline landscape will look like in years? Maybe the ME will be the only place to go with serious growth just like today... It is clearly not perfect, but the ME airlines are growing and will continue to add more and more aircraft going forward. Getting in with Qatar now "might" be a good option IF you can afford it and if you plan on staying for a long while. I do agree that a visit to Doha and actually speaking with QR pilots from Europe would be smart - get their perspective and feedback before taking such a big leap.
Good thing training would take at least 18 months (probably longer) for new trainees because Qatar seem to have a big hiring and training backlog (see ME forum). Hopefully the training backlog will be reduced for new trainees in this programme, otherwise they will sit around in the heat by the pool waiting their turn.
