Qatar Airways

[aviatorconcorde]

Just looking at some of the fares in the QR booking engine over the next few days - CWL seems to have best UK yields with rtn fares a staggering £2.5k on some days - must be busy which is great !

Still think Nov, Jan and Feb gonna be tough tho

Hopefully Jan and Feb will have some luck with the Aussie summer.

 

[David_itl]

given multiple daily flights at MAN and LHR, it's hardly unexpected that fares are more expensive at CWL.

 

[TOM100]

Oh yeah forgot about that and South African summer. Dubai nice that time of year too for a few days of sun but will the Qatar blockade be lifted any time soon ?

 

[Jerry]

Pretty big growth for Doha! The route saw 10,160 passengers use the route in July.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Great news Jerry! Any idea what that is in terms of LF?
As a comparison;
May - 2900
Jun - 4491
Jul - 10160 (over double growth of June)

July
EDI - 15122
BHX - 12256
CWL - 10160

The route is certainly improving and hopefully it will sustain the figures over the quieter months. I suspect August will see even better results than July.

 

[Jerry]

Great news Jerry! Any idea what that is in terms of LF?
As a comparison;
May - 2900
Jun - 4491
Jul - 10160 (over double growth of June)

July
EDI - 15122
BHX - 12256
CWL - 10160

The route is certainly improving and hopefully it will sustain the figures over the quieter months. I suspect August will see even better results than July.

Average load 163 passengers. LF 65%.

 

[TOM100]

I can't fathom the QR schedule in winter - am I right in thinking it doesn't operate on a Wednesday ?

 

[Jerry]

I can't fathom the QR schedule in winter - am I right in thinking it doesn't operate on a Wednesday ?

It's 5 weekly Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It looks like it's 5 weekly from the beginning of November to 23rd May 2019 when it goes daily. Looks like the increase to 6 weekly in April and May that was loaded up isn't happening.

 

[TOM100]

Thanks Jerry

 

[aviatorconcorde]

A poster on another internet forum was upgraded to Business on a recent DOH-CWL as it was oversold in Economy.

 

[Jerry]

Good news for that passenger!

 

[Jerry]

Cardiff council and the airports chairman Roger Lewis are in Doha as part of a trade delegation.
https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/a...isits-Qatar-discusses-trade,-investment-deals

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Taken from another forum, someones recent CWL experience:

Couple of thoughts from my recent first time through CWL.

Airport signposts: The airport is badly signposted both in general and specifically where the different car-parks are. The main road signs on approach are being overgrown by trees and the car-park signage is non-existent. When you get to the last roundabout before the airport the little airport symbol takes you towards the BA hangar and Car Park 2 end of the airport and there is no simple way to get back to Car Park 1. You have to find a place to turn round and go back out onto the bypass. I'm sure it's easy once you've been there a couple of times but as a first time user it was a total pain so have a good look at the map.

Check-in / Security: Quick and efficient. Zero queue at either when I went through. As a biz pax there is a priority lane for security. (no queue in the normal lane either)

Lounge: No 'proper' food (I think I'd just missed lunch) but a really nice unique mix of Welsh beers and spirits. If you don't need to eat then it could be an interesting few hours of sampling stuff you won't get elsewhere. Staff were very friendly as well.

Duty-free: The airport duty free shop comes up on my credit card statement as "Welsh Sports South Glamorgan" no really, I have no idea why. Not the biggest range but £14 for a 1L bottle of Tanqueray is OK.

Boarding, it's not a big airport, 5 min slow walk from the lounge to the aircraft door.

On return:
Immigration: It's all 'human' immigration, no auto gates (see other articles), I was one of the first off so zero delays, decent staff number (about 4 or 5 staffed booths) but I suspect if you're at the back there could be a bit of a wait.

Baggage: Took 25 minutes from the aircraft parking till my bag was on the belt. First bag was probably a minute or two before that and there was a steady stream following. Not the fastest but not too shabby either and quite acceptable.

Load in J outbound was about 50% inbound was more like 75% and the back looked really busy.

Overall pretty decent, nothing to put me off using it again (now I know where the car parks are). Definitely in the travel mix with BHX and LHR.

 

[Jerry]

Sounds positive overall!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats now published for August. CWL-DOH passenger figures extremely impressive. I'll leave Jerry or one of the other CWL regulars to provide the details.

 

[CWL94]

11, 568 pax for the month

73% LF - 185 pax per flight

 

[Jerry]

For a new route that is pretty good!

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Really good for the 4th month of operation in my opinion.

 

[rollo]

I've been watching this thread with interest mostly to see what if any effect it has on the BHX route.

Qatar figues for August at Birmingham are 79% load factor 201 per flight according to a well informed poster on pprune an increase of 11% so encouraging all round for both routes. Of course need to remember August is peak period.

 

[Jerry]

News

19 September

New academic year sees international students jetting into Wales



In what has been an exciting first summer of flying customers from Wales and the South West to and from destinations around the world, Qatar Airways is looking forward to the beginning of Autumn as students use the service to fly in to begin their academic careers in the UK.
Market data shows that approximately 45,000 international students attend Universities across Wales and South West England, hailing from destinations including: China,
Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Qatar, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The daily service between Wales and Qatar, which was launched on 1st May 2018 by His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, the Group CEO of 5* airline Qatar Airways has opened the region up to inbound tourism for leisure, business and foreign students.
Huw Lewis, Finance Director of Cardiff Airport, said: “This new, direct link between the UK and the Middle East has created a wealth of choice for students seeking to study overseas. We are very lucky to boast some world class Universities in this part of the UK, each offering international students a world of choice.
“It’s great to be able to offer new and returning academic students daily access to over 150 connections via Qatar, and a warm, Welsh welcome once they land into Cardiff.”
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘Airline of the Year’ at the 2017 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘World’s Best Business Class,’ ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.’ This 5* airline provides a world-class passenger experience between Wales and the Middle East on board a stunning Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which features 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy class.
https://www.cardiff-airport.com/new...es-international-students-jetting-into-wales/