Qatar Airways has introduced a third daily flight between Doha and London Heathrow as part of its expansion in the UK market. In addition, the airline’s Doha – Manchester route has been upgraded from five flights a week to a…
Qatar Airways has introduced a third daily flight between Doha and London Heathrow as part of its expansion in the UK market. In addition, the airline’s Doha – Manchester route has been upgraded from five flights a week to a daily service, all operating non-stop. The new schedules come into effect to mark the beginning of the Summer 2006 flying programme.
The total number of weekly flights to the UK increases from 26 to 35 – spread across London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester – representing a 35 per cent rise in frequency.
During the recent round of talks between the British and Qatari authorities in London, Qatar Airways was granted additional flying rights to the British capital. The constructive talks were welcomed by Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, who said the additional flights would further strengthen ties between the two countries.
Qatar Airways strengthens its relationship with UK-based carrier Bmi which codeshares on the new flights between the UK and Qatar. Bmi already codeshares on Qatar Airways’ existing Manchester and Heathrow services. Qatar Airways places its code on 78 bmi flights within the UK and to continental Europe.
The launch of a third daily flight on the London Heathrow route sees the introduction of a morning service from Doha, with the return flight leaving London mid-afternoon on the same day and arriving back shortly before midnight.
With Qatar Airways’ Manchester flights going daily and the airline already serving London Gatwick daily, total capacity between Doha and the UK has risen from 26 to 35 flights a week.
Al Baker said: “This is excellent news for the travelling public. More flights mean greater choice. Qatar Airways has been looking forward to adding capacity across the UK, but in particular London Heathrow, which is our flagship route. Our Manchester flights have performed exceptionally well and we decided to go daily as soon as aircraft availability permitted. The additional Manchester services now provide at least daily flights to and from all of our UK gateway cities.”
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