Qatar Airways has been fully controlled by the government since July 2013, following the buyout of a 50% stake from a former foreign minister and other shareholders. As of May 2014update, the company is fully owned by the Qatari government. In March 2024, Qatar Airways announced Sama 2.0, marking the debut of the globe’s premier AI cabin crew. The removal from service was to lower the age of its fleet as well as its ineffectiveness compared to the Boeing 777 as stated by CEO Akbar Al Baker in 2009. The last flight was QR835 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Hamad International Airport.
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A spokeswoman stated, “our policies have evolved with the airline’s growth”. Delivery of the first aircraft of the type finally took place on September 16, 2014. In late May 2014, it was reported that the delivery of the aircraft would be delayed by several weeks. The commitment was firmed up during the 2014 Farnborough Air Show in a deal worth US$18.9 billion; purchase rights for another 50 aircraft of the type were also taken.
- A third A R joined the fleet shortly afterwards, also on lease from AWAS.
- On May 18, 2010, the airline put its first Boeing 777F (A7-BFA) into service, with a flight from Doha to Amsterdam.
- In 2024 Qatar Airways was announced as the Official Airline Partner and Official Cargo Airline Partner of MotoGP.
- Starlink Wi-Fi is available free of charge on the entire B777 fleet, with the technology also set to be rolled out onto the A350 fleet.
- A new scheduled service to New York-JFK that commenced in November 2008 replaced the Newark route.
- The IFE is equipped with the same Thales entertainment system as used in the wide-body fleet.
Services to Athens, Istanbul, Madras and Tunis were discontinued in late 1996, whereas Calcutta and Muscat were removed from the route network in January and September 1997, respectively. Qatar Airways was established by the government of Qatar on November 22, 1993; operations began on January 20, 1994. The carrier has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013, and the official company slogan has been “Going Places Together”, since 2015.
An agreement with Qatar Airways to operate flights for IAG Cargo using Boeing 777F was announced on the same day. In July 2023, the Government of Australia blocked an expansion plan from Qatar Airways that would have seen the carrier double its flights to Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. As of February 5, 2017, the airline had the longest regularly scheduled flight of a commercial airline, between Doha and Auckland.
Hostilities with other Oneworld members
In January 2015, the airline concluded an order for four Boeing 777Fs in a deal worth US$1.24 billion; Qatar Airways also took purchase rights on four more aircraft of the type. The carrier expected to take delivery of its first three Airbus A380 aircraft in June 2014, with plans for the aircraft to be displayed at the Farnborough Air Show. During 2013, Qatar Airways launched flights to Gassim in Saudi Arabia, Basra and Najaf in Iraq, Phnom Penh,nb 1 Salalah and Chicago.
Destinations
On January 7, 2025, following the tension ease in Syria, Qatar Airways resumed its schedule of three weekly flights to Damascus after 13 years of absence, helping Syria reconnect with major destinations in the region. In September 2020, Qatar Airways suspended flights to both Birmingham Airport and Cardiff Airport due to low demand because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. In August 2019, the company introduced flights to Langkawi, as a part of its expansion plans in Southeast Asia. On June 18, 2019, Qatar Airways launched its first flight from Doha to Davao, Philippines. Qatar Airways began another route to Australia, with a non-stop service from Adelaide being launched in 2016.
Starlink Wi-Fi is available free of charge on the entire B777 fleet, with the technology also set to be rolled out onto the A350 fleet. Furthermore, each seat will have a 10.6-inch in-seat LED monitor offering in-flight entertainment. The IFE is equipped with the same Thales entertainment system as used in the wide-body fleet.
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- As of May 2014update, the company is fully owned by the Qatari government.
- In late May 2014, it was reported that the delivery of the aircraft would be delayed by several weeks.
- In 2023 the Australian government denied Qatar’s request for 21 extra flights per week into Australia on grounds of “national interest”, reportedly following lobbying by Qantas.
- In June 2017, all Qatar Airways flights were prevented from entering Emirati, Saudi Arabian, Bahrain and Egyptian airports due to the 2017 diplomatic crisis.
In 2024 Qatar Airways purchased a 25% stake in Virgin Australia, bypassing the need for government approval of increased bilateral air rights and upping its competition against Qantas over the Australian market that way instead. This was allegedly prompted by the discovery of a newborn baby in an airport bathroom. The airline’s first lounge outside Doha opened at London Heathrow’s Terminal 4 in January 2012 and Qatar Airways opened its new Premium Lounge at Dubai-International’s Concourse D in April 2016. Qatar Airways’ chicken road apk download Privilege Club loyalty program allows members to accumulate Avios miles from flying on Qatar Airways and oneworld airline partners and non-airline partners.
As of December 2014update, Qatar Airways served 146 points worldwide following the launch of flights to Asmara. In February 2025 the Australian Government approved the sale of 25% of Virgin Australia Holdings, allowing for Virgin to start flights to Doha from Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The aircraft livery includes the word Qatar in burgundy-coloured letters on a light grey background at both sides of the forward part of the fuselage, with the word in Arabic titles appearing close to it in a darker grey and a smaller typeface. Qatar Executive is a corporate jet subsidiary of Qatar Airways, with its livery sporting a white fuselage with a slightly smaller Oryx painted in the airline’s traditional colours of burgundy and grey.
Economy class passengers on A330 aircraft are offered individual seat-back TV screens. On other long and medium-haul aircraft, business class seats are in a configuration offering flatbed seats with 180 degrees recline, with massage functions. Qatar Airways offers business class passengers fully flat beds with direct aisle access in a configuration on board its Airbus A380, Airbus A350, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 aircraft. Additionally, beginning December 16, flights to Miami will rise to twelve weekly, and Tokyo will see eleven weekly flights. Services to Male in the Maldives will increase from 13 to 28 weekly flights by late December.
Economy class
An all-business class flight to London-Heathrow was launched in May 2014 with Airbus A319LR aircraft. On November 12, 2012, Qatar Airways became the seventh carrier worldwide to acquire the Dreamliner, when Boeing handed over the airline’s first aircraft of the type; it was the first delivered to a Middle Eastern airline. Also in 2009, Qatar Airways launched its first scheduled flights to Australia with Melbourne being the first city served; routes to Chengdu, Hangzhou, Phnom Penh and Clark International Airport in the Philippines were launched during 2009 as well. During the year the airline started serving the Chinese market with the introduction of flights to Shanghai.
Qatar Airways also offers onboard Wi-Fi on all A380, A350, B777, B787, A319, and selected A320, A321, and A330 aircraft. Some Airbus A320 family aircraft are fitted with main-screen entertainment. Except some Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Max family aircraft, all aircraft have personal seat-back entertainment screens. A further four A321s and the two A319LRs will be equipped with the new IFE, as well as new upcoming A320 family aircraft deliveries. Qatar Airways has taken delivery of several A320 family aircraft so far with individual seat-back personal televisions in every seat in economy class. Passengers on Airbus A350, A380, Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft are offered touch-screen IFE monitors.
Natural gas to liquid fuel demonstration
A year later, in May, Qatar withdrew from Gulf Air to ensure the development of its national airline. In October 2000, Qatar Airways ordered an International Aero Engines V2500-powered Airbus A319CJ and took an option for another aircraft of the type. The airline took delivery of the first A320 powered by Aero Engines V2500 on lease from SALE in February 1999. The airline acquired a second-hand Boeing 747SP from Air Mauritius in 1996. Prices may change according to your flight combination and date selection.
First class
By this time the fleet consisted of two Airbus A310s that served a route network including Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Cairo, Dubai, Khartoum, Kuwait, Madras, Manila, Muscat, Sharjah, Taipei, Tokyo and Trivandrum. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 international destinations across five continents from its base at Hamad International Airport. The cost of transfers between airports is not included in your fare.
In December 2019, the company purchased a 60% stake in Rwanda’s new $1.3 billion international airport, Bugesera International Airport. On August 18, 2010, the airline launched its first US-dedicated cargo service from its hub in Doha to Chicago–O’Hare with a stop-over in Amsterdam, Netherlands using Boeing 777 freighter aircraft. Qatar Airways Cargo, the airline’s freight branch, is the world’s third largest international cargo carrier.