Spread across four continents, the new routes will further expand the reach of the carrier’s network and include the world’s longest flight, between Doha and Auckland, New Zealand, the airline has said in a statement.
The announcement was made by Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker at a press conference held on the opening day of ITB Berlin, the world’s largest international travel fair.
On the occasion, al-Baker said: “These new destinations are where our customers want to go, and where we see the most opportunity to provide a best-in-class experience at great value. We look forward to growing our network and welcoming new passengers to Qatar Airways.”
The new services include five destinations in Europe. These are Pisa (Italy), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Helsinki (Finland), Skopje (Macedonia) and Nice (France).
Pisa, where flights will start on August 2 with a daily non-stop A320-family service from Doha, will be the fourth Italian destination for Qatar Airways, joining Venice, Rome and Milan.
Qatar Airways service to Sarajevo will begin on September 7, with three flights per week on A320-family aircraft.
Daily non-stop flights from Doha to Helsinki will start on October 10, offering new connections between oneworld hubs, while a three-times-a-week service between Doha and Skopje will begin in November. Both new cities will be served with A320-family aircraft.
Qatar Airways will return to Nice by summer 2017, with five flights per week with wide-body aircraft.
Qatar Airways has also announced that it will begin services to six new destinations in Africa: Marrakech (Morocco), Windhoek (Namibia), Douala (Cameroon), Libreville (Gabon), Lusaka (Zambia) and Seychelles.
The airline’s service to Marrakech will begin in July, three times per week, from Doha on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
A four-flights-per-week service between Doha and Windhoek will begin on September 28, while a daily scheduled service to the Seychelles will resume on December 12.
In January 2017, Qatar Airways will offer three flights per week from Doha to Douala and Libreville utilising one aircraft.
A non-stop service, running three times a week from Doha to Lusaka, will begin by summer 2017.
Meanwhile, the new Qatar Airways destinations in Southwest Pacific/Southeast Asia are Auckland (New Zealand), Krabi (Thailand) and Chiang Mai (Thailand).
A daily service to Auckland – the airline’s first route to New Zealand and what will be the world’s longest flight – will begin on December 3. Qatar Airways will use the Boeing 777 aircraft for this route.
Qatar Airways will begin four flights per week to Krabi on December 6 and three flights per week to Chiang Mai, also in December, enhancing the overall connectivity to Thailand through four gateways. Qatar Airways currently flies to Bangkok and Phuket.
