Doha-based Qatar Airways is set to increase its presence in the UK and mainland Europe this summer. It will also become the first Gulf carrier to serve Guangzhou (Canton) in mainland China.
From March 30, passengers travelling from London Heathrow to Doha will have an extra flight, making four daily services in total. Over the following weeks and months, Qatar Airways will also boost its European network with extra services out of prime airports such as Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Paris CDG, Berlin Tegel and Milan Malpensa.
The new flight out of Heathrow (QR18 at 0755, arriving Doha at 1650) will provide passengers with an early-morning departure, allowing scope for an evening meeting in Doha. The new inbound service (QR17 at 1635, arriving Heathrow 2200) provides executives with time for morning appointments in Doha. Services will be operated by either Airbus A340-600s or smaller A330s, depending on the day of the week.
Flights to Guangzhou, gateway to the fast-developing region of southern China, get under way on March 31. Services will be operated five times a week by two-class A330s. Flight QR874 will depart Doha at 0100 to reach Guangzhou at 1405, returning as flight QR877 at 2040 to arrive in Doha at 0110 the next morning.
Except for those from Asia, there are only a limited number of international flights serving Guangzhou. In the case of Europe, services are limited to Air France and China Southern (from Paris CDG), China Southern (from Amsterdam) and Lufthansa (from Frankfurt). There are no direct flights from the UK.
Qatar Airways’ new service will provide various connecting possibilities over Doha for passengers flying to/from UK and mainland Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Although Qatar Airways hasn’t yet officially confirmed any of these developments, flight details have now been posted in the main computer booking systems.
For more information go to qatarairways.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
