Category Archives: Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia unveil a new strategic partnership

 

Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia have unveiled a new strategic partnership that will significantly expand both airlines’ networks, lounges and loyalty programmes.

Commencing mid-year, the partnership will give travellers greater access, unparalleled customer experience and unique benefits when travelling between Australia and Qatar Airways’ global network, with convenient transit options across Qatar Airways’ Australian gateways and key Virgin Australia hubs, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The strategic alliance will provide a critical trade and tourism boost for Australia, while opening a world of new travel opportunities for both airline’s customers.

The partnership agreement was announced at the start of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, where Qatar Airways has a significant presence.

Qatar Airways currently operates daily flights into Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth as well as three weekly flights into Adelaide continuing into Auckland, New Zealand. Thanks to the new codeshare agreement, Qatar Airways’ passengers will be able to travel seamlessly to 35 destinations on Virgin Australia’s extensive domestic network, including key popular Australian tourist destinations, including Cairns, Gold Coast, Alice Springs and Broome, on a single booking. Qatar Airways’ passengers will also have access to Virgin Australia’s recently relaunched short-haul international markets, including Fiji and Queenstown, New Zealand.  Similarly, Virgin Australia customers and members of the airline’s award-winning Velocity Frequent Flyer loyalty program, will be able to directly access Qatar Airways’ route network of over 140 worldwide destinations, including the Middle East, Europe and Africa, via the airline’s hub and Skytrax-rated ‘World’s Best Airport’, Hamad International in Doha.

For Virgin Australia guests, access to Qatar Airways’ extensive network provides one-stop connectivity to a wide range of destinations and the ability to book Qatar Airways flights through the Virgin Australia website. Qatar Airways serves 54 cities in Europe with over 600 flights per week, offering a huge range of new choices for Virgin Australia customers. Likewise, Qatar Airways passengers can book flights through into the Virgin Australia network through http://www.qatarairways.com.

The strategic partnership will also include reciprocal loyalty benefits allowing Qatar Airways Privilege Club members to earn and redeem Avios when flying on Virgin Australia, with similar benefits for Velocity members when travelling on Qatar Airways’ services. Privilege Club and Velocity members will also enjoy a wide range of other unique benefits, depending on status tier, such as complimentary lounge access, complimentary extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, priority boarding and priority baggage delivery when flying respectively on Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways Privilege Club recently enhanced its programme through its partnership with Avios, significantly expanding accrual and redemption opportunities for its members.

The partnership with Virgin Australia builds on Qatar Airways’ long-term commitment to connecting Australia to the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar Airways was the only airline consistently operating international services to Australia, providing critical links for Australians to return home.

Qatar Airways steps into the Metaverse with ‘QVerse’ virtual reality and world’s first MetaHuman Cabin Crew

Qatar Airways today entered the metaverse by launching QVerse, a novel virtual reality (VR) experience for visitors to the airline’s website.

Users of the www.qatarairways.com/QVerse website can now virtually tour and navigate the Premium Check-in area at Hamad International Airport (HIA), the cabin interior of the airline’s aircraft, including the award-winning Business Class – Qsuite, and the Economy Class cabin, by using their own Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs). The national carrier of the State of Qatar is also the first global airline to introduce a MetaHuman cabin crew offering a digital interactive customer experience.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “With physical boundaries beginning to be challenged by the metaverse on an increasingly larger scale, it is exciting to embrace a technology that enables all travel enthusiasts to enjoy a unique immersive experience of our award-winning products and services.”

He added: “Our status as the first airline to introduce a MetaHuman cabin crew is testament to our unwavering desire to innovate and delight our customers. We are constantly looking forward to adopting and introducing novel technologies that enhance our passengers’ complete journey.”

The experience was developed using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the world’s most advanced real-time 3D creation tool, and MetaHuman Creator, a cloud-based app for creating high-fidelity digital humans. Qatar Airways is the first global airline to introduce a MetaHuman cabin crew, featuring a digitally-created high-fidelity 3D human model named ‘Sama’ – whose name is of Arabic origin and translates to ‘sky’. ‘Sama’ offers an interactive customer experience through engagement with the user, taking them on a virtual journey of discovery, while presenting the unique features in both the Business and Economy Class cabins through a narrated script.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the ‘Airline of the Year’ by the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax, in addition to securing five additional awards, including World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge, World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat, World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering and Best Airline in the Middle East. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). The airline’s hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), was also recently recognized as the ‘Best Airport in the World 2021’, ranking at number one in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2021.

Qatar Airways and IndiGo reactivate strategic cooperation

Qatar Airways and IndiGo, India’s largest airline, announce the reactivation of their strategic cooperation following the lifting of the suspension on international scheduled flights by the Indian government.

Qatar Airways is currently operating 190 flights per week to and from 12 destinations in India, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram. IndiGo is currently operating 154 flights per week between Doha and eight cities in India and that includes Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur. As part of this expanded code-share agreement, Qatar Airways will be placing its marketing code on IndiGo operated flights between Doha and Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, starting from 25 April 2022, and Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kozhikode, starting from 09 May 2022.

Both Qatar Airways and IndiGo flights are optimally connected to Qatar Airways’ hub, the award-winning Hamad International Airport in Doha. This allows passengers to benefit from seamless and convenient connections to the airline’s entire route network, including North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia/Australia.

In addition to faster and more convenient connections to and from India, members of Qatar Airways’ loyalty program Privilege Club will benefit from the strategic cooperation as members will soon be able to earn Avios on all code-share flights operated by IndiGo. Likewise, Qatar Airways’ generous baggage rules, which are especially important for international travelers apply on all code-share flights.

Qatar Airways launches a new brand refresh campaign – ‘Let’s Fly’

Qatar Airways Boeing 777-3DZ ER A7-BAM (msn 38245) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 956933.

Qatar Airways has launched an inspiring new brand refresh campaign inviting people to ‘Let’s Fly’ as the world reopens and travelers once again take to the skies in search of new experiences and memories. With trips postponed, family occasions missed and friends disconnected over the last two years, the new campaign encourages people to start an exceptional journey of discovery from the moment they step on board a Qatar Airways aircraft. With creative agency partner McCann London, this is the largest brand collaboration the airline has seen in seven years.

Embracing the iconic Qatar Airways color, a burgundy carpet inspires travelers to journey to the locations of their dreams, while a new specially created song, also titled ‘Let’s Fly,’ invites them to let the airline ‘take you somewhere new’ to experience ‘burgundy sunset sky’, again leveraging on the distinctive brand color of the airline. When passengers enter our aircraft, their trip becomes a reality and the memories begin as they are welcomed by our award-wining cabin crew who are the embodiment of our five-star service, making Qatar Airways a record-breaking six-time winner of the Skytrax ‘Airline of the Year’ title.

As one of the only airlines to never stop flying during the pandemic, Qatar Airways has regrown its network to almost 150 global destinations, with around 500 daily flights taking people to where they want to go. Inspiration and excitement of every form lies in wait – strolling through parks on an unforgettable city break, tiptoeing across the sand on the relaxing beach vacation of a lifetime, getting up close with wildlife on an African safari or simply reuniting with family and friends after time spent apart – whatever your dream escape, there is a world of opportunity lying in wait and Qatar Airways will take you there.

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A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the ‘Airline of the Year’ at the 2021 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax. It was also named ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering’ and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021).

Qatar Airways has also become the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by Skytrax. This follows the success of HIA as the first airport in the Middle East and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. These awards provide assurance to passengers across the world that the airline’s health and safety measures are subject to the highest possible standards of professional, independent scrutiny and assessment. For full details of all the measures that have been implemented on board and at HIA, please visit qatarairways.com/safety.

Top Copyright Photo: Qatar Airways Boeing 777-3DZ ER A7-BAM (msn 38245) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 956933.

Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:

Qatar Airways aircraft photo gallery:

Qatar Airways is all set to participate in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Final Draw Event, will bring back 4 A380s

Qatar Airways has made this announcement:

The eyes of the world will be on Qatar for the Final Draw of the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ on Friday 1 April, to witness the grouping of all teams for the flagship competition.

The much-anticipated ceremony will be held at The Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, starting at 19:00 (Doha time). The Final Draw will be graced by a delegation of Qatar Airways’ senior management who will be present to share the excitement amongst several former champions of the prestigious tournament in attendance.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “What was once a dream is now a reality. Many world-class footballers will be present to play their part in deciding who will face who in this year’s FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar.”

With 29 out of the 32 participants confirmed at the time of the Final Draw, qualified teams will be separated into four pots based on the latest FIFA Men’s World Ranking. Pot four will include three placeholders representing the two intercontinental play-off winners and the European play-off winner, who will only be determined in June.

Qatar Airways is inviting football fans to experience the first FIFA World Cup™ in the Middle East, with a range of all-inclusive travel packages starting from USD $3,400 per person*. With just a few easy steps to follow, fans across the world can book their complete travel packages with flexible booking options for the mega event. To guarantee their experience, fans can choose from seven-tiered travel packages which include return flights, match tickets and accommodation options. Customers can secure their spot now and follow their favorite team at qatarairways.com/FIFA2022.

As of today, 15 teams including the host nation, Qatar, have already qualified for the tournament including: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iran, Netherlands, Serbia, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. Fans are encouraged to begin preparing for their journey, with less than eight months until the mega-event, in what promises to be an experience of a lifetime.

The tournament will be held across eight world-class stadiums which are designed to inspire the various symbols of Arabian culture. The Al Bayt Stadium will host the opening game with a capacity of 60,000 seats, while Lusail Stadium is set to host the final match of the tournament, with a capacity of 80,000 seats. The remaining stadiums will house 40,000 spectators. These include: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium, Khalifa International Stadium, Education City Stadium, Stadium 974 and Al Thumama Stadium.

As FIFA’s Official Airline Partner since 2017, Qatar Airways has sponsored mega events including the 2019 and 2020 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup™, and the FIFA Arab Cup™, all of which were hosted in Qatar. The airline is also eagerly anticipating the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – the first in the Middle East, and offering a seamless journey from almost 150 destinations across the globe to fans attending this world-class event.

In its goal to bring communities together through sport, the World’s Best Airline has an extensive global sports partnership portfolio that includes football-governing bodies such as FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. The airline also sponsors some of the world’s biggest football clubs including Al Sadd SC, Boca Juniors, FC Bayern München, K.A.S. Eupen and Paris Saint-Germain.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the ‘Airline of the Year’ by the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax, in addition to securing five additional awards including World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge, World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat, World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering and Best Airline in the Middle East. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). The airline’s hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), was also recently recognised as the ‘Best Airport in the World 2021’, ranking at number one in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2021.

*Starting price per person in a double room for comparison purpose only. This is subject to change depending on your city of departure and exchange rate.

In other news, the company is bringing back four additional Airbus A380s adding to the four already back in service.

JetBlue and Qatar Airways announce plans to expand existing global partnership

JetBlue Airways announced it intends to expand the depth and breadth of its existing partnership with Qatar Airways to offer customers even more benefits when booking travel to and from international destinations on the global partner airline. This will include more codesharing in additional markets in the coming months, enhanced benefits for JetBlue TrueBlue® and Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club loyalty members, expanded marketing opportunities and refinements to flight schedules to create new, convenient connections across both carriers.

Already, Qatar Airways is one of JetBlue’s top partners for connecting customers across the Americas to its global network, with traffic expected to grow further through new enhancements within the partnership. This new agreement will provide more options to travel between JetBlue’s 100+ destinations across North America and the Caribbean and Qatar Airways global network of 82 countries. JetBlue places its code on Qatar Airways flights in – or offers connections through – nine U.S. gateways.

In addition, the airlines plan to develop an integrated airside transfer option for customers connecting at New York-JFK, JetBlue’s largest focus city and Qatar Airways’ most served U.S. destination.

JetBlue customers currently enjoy travel options via Doha, Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) – named in 2021 as the Best Airport in the World – to more than 80 destinations in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and South Asia. At the same time, Qatar Airways customers also already benefit from access to more than 60 destinations across JetBlue’s network. The two airlines have partnered since 2011.

Customers also currently enjoy enhancements that link the carriers’ loyalty programs. TrueBlue and Privilege Club members benefit from the ability to accrue TrueBlue points or Privilege Club Avios. In the future, those benefits will expand with the ability to redeem points on either carrier’s flights.

 

Qatar Airways to resume flights to London Gatwick

Qatar Airways is to resume flights to London Gatwick Airport from June 5, 2022. The multi-award winning airline will operate a daily service from Gatwick to Doha using a state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an environmentally advanced aircraft. It consumes 20 per cent less fuel and its carbon dioxide emissions are 20 per cent lower than other similar aircraft.

The resumption of the London Gatwick service complements recently launched flights to Doha from Gatwick by Qatar Airways’ Joint Business partner British Airways, meaning the airlines can now jointly offer more options between London and Doha and beyond, earning Avios frequent flyer points as they go.

UK customers will now have access to four gateways including five-times daily services from London Heathrow, 18-times weekly from Manchester and four-times weekly from Edinburgh rising to daily from 2 June.

Flights from UK:

London Gatwick – Twice daily (one daily Qatar Airways’ flight, one daily British Airways’ flight)

London Heathrow – Five times daily

Manchester – 18 flights a week

Edinburgh – Four flights a week, rising to daily from 2 June, 2022

Qatar Airways to resume services to Windhoek

Qatar Airways will resume its service to the Namibian capital, Windhoek from  June 25, 2022 as part of its largest ever African schedule.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar will operate three weekly non-stop flights to and from Windhoek via the World’s Best Airport, Hamad International Airport (HIA), flown by the state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner offering 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class.

Qatar Airways flight QR1373, will depart from Hamad International Airport at 01:45, arriving at 09:50 to Hosea Kutako International Airport. Qatar Airways flight QR1374, will depart from Hosea Kutako International Airport at 13:20, and arrive to Hamad International Airport at 23:00.

Qatar Airways to launch flights to Santorini in June

Qatar Airways will launch flights to Santorini, Greece on June 7, 2022, joining Athens and Mykonos to become the third destination to be served in Greece by the national carrier of the State of Qatar.

The service will be operated by Airbus A320 featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy Class.

The airline will also restart its seasonal flights to Mykonos, Greece, in the same week, with four weekly flights, in addition, Athens will go to a double daily service, offering greater choice for business and leisure passengers alike.

Flight Schedule:

Santorini (JTR)

Saturday and Sunday (all times local)

Doha (DOH) to Santorini (JTR) QR 209 departs: 07:50 arrives: 12:20

Tuesday

Doha (DOH) to Santorini (JTR) QR 209 departs: 10:10 arrives: 14:40

Saturday (all times local)

Santorini (JTR) to Doha (DOH) QR 210 departs: 13:15 arrives: 17:15

Sunday

Santorini (JTR) to Doha (DOH) QR 210 departs: 13:20 arrives: 17:20

Tuesday

Santorini (JTR) to Doha (DOH) QR 210 departs: 15:35 arrives: 19:35

Mykonos (JMK)

Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (all times local)

Doha (DOH) to Mykonos (JMK) QR311 departs: 07:40 arrives: 12:05

Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (all times local)

Mykonos (JMK) to Doha (DOH) QR312 departs: 13:05 arrives: 17:20

Athens (ATH)

Double daily flight (all times local)

Doha (DOH) to Athens (ATH) QR203 departs: 07:35 arrives: 12:15

Doha (DOH) to Athens (ATH) QR207 departs: 14:00 arrives: 18:40

 

Double daily flight (all times local)

Athens (ATH) to Doha (DOH) QR204 departs: 13:45 arrives: 18:10

Athens (ATH) to Doha (DOH) QR208 departs: 19:40 arrives: 00:05

Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines sign MOU for a strategic cooperation

Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines Berhad today announced a new chapter in their long-standing relationship by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The new agreement will further facilitate a strategic cooperation that will see both airlines working closely together across multiple areas of the business to offer an unrivaled and range of value-added services to passengers.

With the enhanced partnership, both airlines will leverage each other’s network strengths and provide more access for passengers to travel to new destinations beyond their individual networks while offering new and exclusive product to their customers soon. Qatar Airways’ passengers will gain better access to the wider domestic Malaysia market and key destinations in Asia such as Penang, Langkawi and Medan, Indonesia. Operated by Malaysia Airlines via its hub, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Passengers will enjoy seamless connectivity to popular destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas with Qatar Airways’ extensive network via Doha.

Building on the close links between Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines’ networks and rapid expansion of codeshare flights, the two oneworld partners have also agreed to maximize synergies in other areas of the business such as air cargo, operations or commercial services, that will create a game-changing innovative synergy for both carriers in leading the new travel demand ahead.

Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines launched their codeshare cooperation in 2004 and have significantly expanded the partnership in recent years, which today comprises of 62 codeshare destinations in Malaysia, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Europe, the Americas and Africa.