Qatar Airways has today launched a five-weekly direct Dreamliner service between Doha and Edinburgh.
The inaugural flight landed at Edinburgh International Airport at 1315 and was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute and the sound of bagpipes.
The carrier is deploying a B787 in a two-cabin configuration, with 22 seats in business class and 232 in economy, on the new route, which operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Flight QR027 departs Doha at 0800 and arrives in Edinburgh at 1315 local time. Return service QR028 leaves Edinburgh at 1445 and lands in Doha at 2340 local time.
Edinburgh is Qatar Airways' third UK destination — it currently operates six flights daily to London Heathrow and ten weekly to Manchester.
Marwan Koleilat, Qatar Airways' CCO, said: "We are delighted that our Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft has today commenced services to Edinburgh. We are sure that this will not only benefit the local market in Scotland, but also attract a significant amount of business and trade links for those wishing to travel to Edinburgh from all corners of the world.
"The start of the service not only offers travellers from the Scottish capital access to the Middle East in under seven hours, but also a quicker total journey time to other popular destinations in Asia, India and Australasia, through our brand new airline hub, Hamad International Airport."
Qatar's Doha to Edinburgh route is the first scheduled B787 service from a Scottish airport. Charter carrier Thomson Airways flew the Dreamliner from Glasgow to Cancun and Orlando during the summer 2013 season.
Earlier today, it emerged that Qatar Airways has postponed its inaugural A380 route to London Heathrow by two weeks (see news, May 28).
Graham Smith
