Qatar Airways is giving a boost to its non-stop Doha-Ho Chi Minh City service with its current 10 weekly flights being upped to double daily starting March 31 next year.
The Doha-based carrier currently operates two non-stop seven-and-a-half-hour flights to and from the Vietnamese city. Flights QR970 and QR971 already operate on a daily schedule, while QR972 and QR973 currently fly three times a week. The boost will see QR972 and QR973 increase to one flight per day also.
From March 31, 2019 onwards, the two daily services will operate on the following schedule, according to the airline’s online timetable:
| Flight No. | From | To | Departs | Arrives | Days |
| QR970 | Doha (DOH) | Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) | 0220 | 1355 | Daily |
| QR972 | 2035 | 0755+1 | Daily | ||
| QR973 | Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) | Doha (DOH | 0915 | 1305 | Daily |
| QR971 | 1915 | 2305 | Daily |
Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will operate flights QR970 and the returning QR971, while its Airbus A330-300 will fly the QR972 and QR973 services.
Unfortunately, neither of these aircraft feature Qatar Airways new enclosed business class seat, known as QSuite.
Instead, the A330-300 offers a business class cabin with seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration – meaning direct aisle access isn’t available to passengers seated in the A and K window seats – while the 787-8 features a superior 1-2-1 layout.
Seats on the A330-300 offer 60 inches of pitch (legroom) and 21 inches of width, while those on the Dreamliner offer 50 inches of pitch and 22 inches of width. Both are able to recline to provide a (more or less) fully flat bed.
The boost to its Ho Chi Minh City flights comes as Qatar Airways is expanding its services to Vietnam, including the launch of non-stop flights to Da Nang next month.
Da Nang will be Qatar Airways’ third destination in Vietnam. The airline launched its first flight to the country in 2007 with direct services to Ho Chi Minh City, followed by flights to Hanoi in 2010.
