Qatar Airways to launch non-stop flights to Tokyo

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker says the Japan frequency increase demonstrates the airline’s commitment to the Japanese market

Qatar Airways will enhance Japan services to twice-daily with the introduction of non-stop flights to Tokyo from October 28. The national carrier currently serves the Doha -Tokyo route daily via Osaka. With the launch of the new non-stop service to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, passengers from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa can now “take advantage of” a one-stop connection to Japan’s capital city via Doha.Travellers from Japan will also have easier access to more than 100 destinations worldwide with one-stop flying to Doha first and then onwards to popular cities around the world.Qatar Airways launched flights to the “Land of the rising sun” in 2005 with Osaka becoming its first Japanese route. In 2010, the carrier added Tokyo to its network, via Osaka. With yesterday’s announcement to de-link flights, Qatar Airways’ Osaka route becomes a dedicated non-stop service and frequency effectively doubled between Qatar and Japan.The airline will serve Tokyo with its flagship Boeing 777-200 aircraft in a two class-configuration of 42 seats in business class and 217 in economy. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker said the Japan frequency increase “demonstrated the airline’s commitment to the Japanese market.”“Today’s announcement is a significant step by Qatar Airways as we show our confidence in the Japanese travel market,” he said.“Japan has been a key market for us ever since we launched operations to Osaka in 2005. Two years ago, Qatar Airways began daily flights to Tokyo, but we have been working closely with the local authorities to ensure we secure suitable slots at Narita to make Tokyo a non-stop service, which now becomes a reality from October 28 at the start of the Northern Winter flying programme.“This is great news for our existing passengers travelling to and from Tokyo, as well as our trade partners with whom we work closely to develop our business in and out of Japan. Qatar Airways has built up a solid reputation among the travel trade and business community across Japan. “A dedicated Tokyo service means a great deal to the travel community in and around Japan’s capital city, as we are now able to offer an enhanced one-stop product taking passengers to an exciting array of destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Similarly, we are now able to offer a one-stop service from our network to Tokyo via Doha.”Doha - Tokyo flight schedules, effective October 28:QR804  (daily)  Depart Doha at 3-30am, arrive Tokyo Narita at 7pm. QR805  (daily)  Depart Tokyo Narita at 10.30pm, arrive Doha at 4-30am the following day.Doha - Osaka, effective  October 28:QR802 (daily)   Depart Doha at 1-15am, arrive Osaka Kansai at 4-40pm. QR803 (daily)   Depart Osaka Kansai at 12.20am, arrive Doha at 5-30am.