Qatar Airways will deploy its second Airbus A380 aircraft on the Doha-Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) route later this summer.
According to the airline, it will fly the superjumbo to CDG from July 3 as flight QR39, and return to Doha as QR40. The French capital is the second destination served by Qatar Airways with the A380, after London-Heathrow.
Both QR39 and QR40 are currently served by the Airbus A340-600, which features a three-class configuration with eight in first class, 42 in business and 256 in economy.
Meanwhile, the A380 will feature the same tri-class configuration, with eight seats in first class, 52 in business, and 517 in economy. This represents an upgrade in capacity across both business and economy class, while first class will remain the same.
QR39 departs from Doha at 0810 and arrive in Paris at 1410. QR40 leaves CDG at 1600 and touches down in Doha at 2320.
In terms of connection times, the flight works well for passengers travelling from Hong Kong due to the airline’s partnership with fellow Oneworld member, Cathay Pacific (CX). Customers can travel from Hong Kong to Doha via QR815, before connecting onto QR39 to Paris. For the return leg, passengers can fly on QR40 to Doha, before connecting to CX640 that departs for Hong Kong at 0145.
Transit time for the Hong Kong to Paris leg is 3 hours and 20 minutes, while the return leg will require a 1 hour and 50 minutes layover in Doha. Having a layover represents significant savings. The price for a direct business class service from Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific is HK$46,340 (US$5,977), while the itinerary offered by Qatar Airways with a stopover is HK$26,978 (US$3,480) – some US$2,000 less.
For flights from Singapore, the layover period for both legs of the route is about 3 hours, and the airline is offering fares starting at SG$5,909 (US$4,724). The transit time is slightly long but if one is to compare the price with Singapore Airlines' (SIA) direct service, which is SG$8,667 (US$6,929), the US$2,000 saving might be quite an incentive to some. On the other hand, SIA is using the superjumbo for its daily Paris service, so loyalists may still prefer to pay the price for this complete, uninterrupted A380 experience.
Qatar’s flights from Shanghai come with a 3 hours 40 minutes layover in Doha for flights to Paris, and 1 hour 45 minutes on the return leg. The fare is CNY26,165 (US$4,195). While it is not as competitive as direct flights offered by the city's own China Eastern in terms of price – the Chinese airline's return flight on business to CDG is priced at CNY18,210 (US$2,919) at time of press – but the Gulf carrier's cabin products are arguably more attractive.
All fare prices quoted are based on travel between July 3-10 across all carriers.
Qatar Airways will serve the Doha–Paris route from its new hub at Hamad International Airport.
For more information, visit www.qatarairways.com
Clement Huang
