Qatar Airways

[nwoody2001]

...some positive news regarding Qatar at BHX

Qatar Air Mulls Gatwick Route as Heathrow Flight Upgraded to 787

November 18, 2015 — 8:57 AM GMT

Qatar Airways Ltd. is examining the business case for its first flights to London Gatwick airport as well as services to Ireland as the second-biggest Gulf airline plots its next moves for expansion in the British Isles.

With slots at London’s crowded Heathrow hub tough to come by, flying to Gatwick would be the next best option for adding seats to the U.K. capital, Richard Oliver, country manager for the U.K. and Ireland, said in an interview.

Qatar Air this week boosted capacity at Heathrow, where it has six daily flights, by dropping its 40-business-seat Airbus Group SE A319 service to Doha in favor of a Boeing Co. 787 with 254 seats. Away from London, it’s looking at serving southwest England and possibly another Scottish airport, Oliver said.

“We still see huge potential for growth in Britain,” Oliver said. “There’s a stable economy, a valuable currency and a firm market.” While Qatar Air’s first deployment of a 787 to the U.K. will cut business berths on the flight by 18 versus the A319, the switch, made Sunday, will still boost revenue, he said.

Flights to Ireland, among options under review, could target either the capital Dublin, competing with Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways PJSC, or Belfast in Northern Ireland, a location not yet served by any of the three leading Gulf carriers.

Sales on a new route to Birmingham, which starts in March with eight weekly flights, are ahead of expectations, according to Oliver. He said he’d ideally like to offer triple-daily services there, as well on Qatar Air’s Manchester and Edinburgh routes, to match the three waves of departures from the Doha hub.

Bigger wide-body planes may also be deployed in other Heathrow slots, Oliver said. It’s unlikely the carrier will add to its two Airbus A380 services given the size of the superjumbo fleet, which is six strong, with four on order

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... ded-to-787

Great to hear Qatar is doing well at BHX and if they do well, they have big plans for us

 

[Ray Finkle]

Very good to hear.

If sales continue to go well hopefully double daily won't be too far off.

 

[User001]

I do think a pinch of salt is required with this article.

I've lost count the amount of times an airline has said about such an ambitious frequency increase on routes, it's their job to talk it up and plant hope, and the article itself has inaccuracies given it says it would be launching Gatwick for the first time.... (Not forgetting LGW was Qatars launch destination for the UK!......)

 

[nwoody2001]

indeed, especially with Qatar... i'm sure they unofficially announced BHX about 2 times in the past before this official announcement...

that said, its great to hear that they still see the UK as a growth opportunity, good to know!

 

[Ray Finkle]

First announced by the CEO back in 2006 I think it was?

3x daily to EDI, MAN and BHX? He's the UK manager so of course he wants more flights to his country, what the route planners in Doha have in mind though may be something totally different. That said this is not the first time that I've heard that seats are selling well, personally I believe him on that one :s_yes

 

[User001]

Seems I owe an apology regarding the article about the influx of frequency for Qatar, given they have just increased Manchester to 3 daily on some days, just like they said in the article.

 

[nwoody2001]

Well, with regard to long-haul aircraft, Qatar currently have on order

37x A350-900 (total fleet size = 43)
37x A350-1000 (total fleet size = 37)
4x A380-800 (total fleet size = 10)
5x 777-300 (total fleet size = 33)
10x 777-8 (total feet size = 10)
50x 777-9 (total fleet size 50)
5x 787-8 (total fleet size = 30)

That means the current Qatar long haul fleet will rise from 107 to 255. Even if those new order replace their older A332, A333 and A346, that is still a fleet of 222, over double what they currently have! It is therefore safe to say that Qatar are invested in significant growth and as such, the UK should be on the receiving end of this...

 

[Ray Finkle]

The UK looks to be a focus at the moment. I've heard it suggested that if BHX continues to sell well it could be 11 weekly by the end of 2016 or early 2017.

Qatar have moved three of EDI's seven weekly flights to morning arrivals giving a split similar to that at BHX. It could be in advance of an increase in the future.

 

[jfy1999]

Well, with regard to long-haul aircraft, Qatar currently have on order

37x A350-900 (total fleet size = 43)
37x A350-1000 (total fleet size = 37)
4x A380-800 (total fleet size = 10)
5x 777-300 (total fleet size = 33)
10x 777-8 (total feet size = 10)
50x 777-9 (total fleet size 50)
5x 787-8 (total fleet size = 30)

That means the current Qatar long haul fleet will rise from 107 to 255. Even if those new order replace their older A332, A333 and A346, that is still a fleet of 222, over double what they currently have! It is therefore safe to say that Qatar are invested in significant growth and as such, the UK should be on the receiving end of this...

I don't suppose BHX could see any larger aircraft in the time before any expansion takes place? It seems Qatar are pretty flexible at Manchester regarding aircraft type with flights being upgraded and downgraded on almost a weekly basis. Could BHX see the same if there's enough demand?

We can only imagine what the scenario will be come the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

 

[User001]

I'm not sure JFY.

Edinburgh seems to have been consistently B787's since it started, and it may be down to engineering cover as MAN is an A330/B777/B787 and A380 engineering station for Qatar.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Can anyone tell me which lounge Qatar will use at BHX? I assume that at present they have no plans for their own lounge, unlike Emirates whose lounge is excellent.

 

[Brum X]

Can anyone tell me which lounge Qatar will use at BHX? I assume that at present they have no plans for their own lounge, unlike Emirates whose lounge is excellent.

They will probably use the "Aspire" lounge that American Airlines use (One World) but if the route is successful and goes double daily and we see airport expansion at BHX which is due very soon, then we may see a dedicated Qatar lounge. Maybe ?????

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Many thanks, Brum X.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The American Airlines website suggests that they use the No.1 Traveller Lounge at BHX.

Both American and Qatar also use the No.1 Traveller Lounge at EDI so I'd say that there is a decent chance that Qatar will also use it at BHX.

 

[User001]

Qatar actually have very few lounges of their own outside of Qatar. They seem to prefer the use of 3rd party lounges.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray, let's hope that when qatar start there flights from 30th March this year, they are as successful as Emirates have been, by quickly starting to add extra flights where needed, and if the demand is there, which I hope it is, which will mean further increasing it's capacity even more. Hopefully this will then,alert all other budget, medium and bigger carriers, that the success that emirates is achieving and hopefully what qatar will achieve, will then make them realise that Birmingham is not such a bad place to do business, but the opposite.... Let's see....Andyc

 

[IanFarquharson]

The schedule Qatar are starting with is great, 8pw of which 4pw are in the morning and 4pw are in the evening.
Which make a step up to double daily very easy.
I think we will see this in 2017

Ian

 

[nwoody2001]

I really hope it is a ssucess, would be great to see this go double daily after its first year... some of the prices being quoted in their recent sale have been nothing short of amazing so hopefully this has attracted people to the new route!!!! that said, going from 8 to 14 weekly rotations would be a 75% increase in capacity, pretty impressive if we could achieve this in a 12 month period!!!

question is, what would it take to get the attention of Etihad? I don't think we'd need them, but I cant help but be curious!

 

[jfy1999]

question is, what would it take to get the attention of Etihad? I don't think we'd need them, but I cant help but be curious!

I think just the presence of their two main rivals could be a major factor, but I don't know whether Abu Dhabi has any advantage over DXB with regard to onward connections, which would be the main reason for starting any flights.

It's interesting to see the divide between Glasgow and Edinburgh over ME flights. I believe neither airport currently has more than 2 ME flights per day, and that's serving the whole of Scotland (although why EK opted for Glasgow over Edinburgh is beyond me). Meanwhile BHX is looking at 5 daily flights in a couple of years.

 

[Ray Finkle]

From what I hear recent events at BHX haven't gone unnoticed in Abu Dhabi, whether that eventually leads to anything only time will tell but I wouldn't expect anything in the near future.