Qatar Airways Route Expansion

[newswatcher]

From the Qatar Peninsula(27/2):

"Qatar Airways will begin flying to Rome, Manchester, Kochi and Islamabad in a couple of months, expanding its route network to 42 global destinations. The airline's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Akbar Al Baker, told reporters yesterday: "I am pleased to announce that Qatar Airways will be offering its customers a greater choice of destinations".

The airline will fly four times a week to Manchester using an Airbus A300, bringing total weekly flights to the United Kingdom to 15 per week, said Akbar.

The flights to Manchester will mean that Qatar Airways' customers could enter the UK via Heathrow or Manchester. "We will fly direct to Manchester on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays," the CEO said.

From June 16, the airline will begin flights to Rome four times a week in association with its existing flights to Milan. "We will fly a circular route to Doha-Rome-Milan-Doha, reversing the circular route twice a week," Akbar added.

This means that the airline will be offering direct flights to Rome twice a week, direct flights to Milan twice a week, and flights to both the Italian cities four times a week. "It will also allow us to offer our customers entry points into the northern and southern regions of Italy," said the CEO.

The airline will fly Doha-Rome-Milan-Doha on Mondays and Wednesdays and Doha-Milan-Rome-Doha on Fridays and Sundays.

The airline will launch flights to Islamabad on March 31 with convenient connections to Manchester via Doha. "From March 31, Qatar Airways will be serving the Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar 13 times a week," said Akbar.

The airline will fly twice a week to Islamabad, twice a week to Lahore, seven times a week to Karachi and twice a week to Peshawar. The flights will leave for Islamabad every Monday and Thursday.

From next week, Qatar Airways will begin flights to Kochi, in the South Indian state of Kerala. "We will fly three times a week to Kochi using A300 and A320 aircraft.

The flights will leave on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. "With its inaugural flight on March 6, Qatar Airways will be serving the Indian cities of Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram with 19 flights a week," said the airline's CEO.

Meanwhile, he added that the airline received its third A330 aircraft this month and will take delivery of the fourth A330-200 next month."

[Qatari515]

Meanwhile, he added that the airline received its third A330 aircraft this month and will take delivery of the fourth A330-200 next month."

Now all he needs are.....

crews to operate all these shiny aircraft! 100 cabin crew resigned last month together with +10 pilots!!!!!And more to follow!

He really is not getting the message isnt he.......YOU CAN NOT OPERATE AN AIRLINE WITHOUT FLIGHT CREW!!!!!!

[lamy]

quatari515 you said 10 PILOT resigned at quatar airways
can you tell me reason for that.
I have a opportunity over there.
thank for any information .

[Hong Kong Layover]

Well, returning to the main topic........

There was a deligation recently in doha to sign paper work to operate flights to SYD australia.the said flight is going to be operated, DOH-CMB-SYD!

Could anybody confirm this?

[Ready]

Qatari515,

.........that's right, they will need crews to fly those shiny new aircraft, but they could be coming from outside. The last I heard was that they are so short of crews that they could be hiring direct entry captains for the A300. Are we surprised? I would not, another promise going down the drain. We were told that all A330 openings would be allocated from inside.

Easy to figure out. Pilots are underpaid, overworked, and when they have enough, they quit. So many quit so that they get so behind replacing them and so on and so on..........and if you don't get the 330 or your left seat upgrade, their argument will be it's because of the expansion, because of lack of training pilots, because of this because of that......plus they have a hard time attracting outsiders to come here. They have thousands of applications they say, but they will hire non-rated pilots soon. Whom and what to believe? Huuummmm!!!

But don't forget, just to name a few: no bottles of water in the cockpit, wear your hat, travel to Dubai for your sim in full pilot's attire although you're in command of nothing at that point (where I'm from, that was totally forbidden to do so for obvious reasons). As well, wear your jacket all year round when in Europe. What's the difference? 30 degrees in Europe feels the same than 30 degrees in Doha.When leaving Doha, where do you put that jacket when it's 45 degrees outside, what a drag!!!. A moderm time airline with very obsolete condepts for its employees.

Most of us would like to stay around for quite a while, but.......unless they would like us to leave before the're in a position to replace us with locals.

Cheers!!!

Sorry!
In my previous posting, I meant direct entry captains on the A330, not they A300. That's already happening.
Cheers!

[nickmelb]

hey hong kong layover

when i had my cabin crew interview with QR in July last year, we were told that they would be operating flts to Sydney this yr.

A300man should know more, but i would say its probably happening...who knows!

[Qatari515]

Ready,

I would not worry to much about direct entry pilots on our fleet.

A330......no more available and if they should be available they will go to the asian market which is openi ng up and where they pay four times our pathetic salary!

A300......a dying bread of pilots...

A320 dried up ecxept for very low time guys


AAB and the managment can say whatever they want, they might have thousands of applications but how many of them are still valid? Most of them where written in the middle of the crisis and have not been updated yet!

That is why so many pilots dont show up on the interviews or even worse, they do not show up when being offered a job! And why should they, markets are opening up everywhere and the pay is much better!

Besides that QR is getting a very bad name amongs the international pilot community because of all thats happening here, I would not be surprisezd ifIFALPA issued a warning very soon now for people wanting to join QR....

And they should do that because the things they tell you here on your interviews are plain lies!!!!!

PS..;. just look at the rosters this month.....evberybody is doing overtime.....and a lot!

I do not think that is because they have too much pilots :yuk:

[newswatcher]

From the UAE "Gulf NEws"(12/3):

"Qatar Airways, which operates 43 flights a week from the UAE, will launch flights to Manchester next month.

From April 2, the national carrier will fly four times a week to Britain's third largest airport, taking its schedule to the UK from 11 flights to 15 a week.

Manchester will become Qatar Airways' 40th destination. Qatar Airways will fly to Manchester from Dubai on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

On Tuesday and Saturday, flight QR115 will leave Dubai at 11.45 pm and land in Doha for the connecting non-stop flight to Manchester - QR041 - which will leave at 1.25 am on Wednesday and Sunday and reach Manchester at 6.25 am.

On Monday and Thursday, flight QR101 will leave Dubai at 10.30 am and reach Doha for the connecting flight to Manchester - QR043 - which will depart at 12.35 am and land in Manchester at 5.55 pm.

Qatar Airways will fly from Abu Dhabi to Manchester four times a week. On Monday and Thursday, flight QR125 will leave Abu Dhabi at 10.55 am to Doha for the connecting QR043 service to Manchester.

On Saturday and Tuesday, flight QR129 will leave Abu Dhabi at 11.40 pm for the connecting Doha-Manchester QR041.

"Qatar Airways' customers can now enter the UK via Heathrow or Manchester," said Ali Al Rais, regional manager of the airline.

Qatar Airways will initially use a twin-engine, wide-body Airbus A300-600R aircraft on the Doha-Manchester route, with 224 seats in three classes.

The service will have 12 seats in first, 18 in business and 194 in economy classes. The airline, which flies to 39 destinations in Africa, Europe and Asia, has drafted an ambitious growth plan under the stewardship of Akbar Al Baker, chief executive.

It aims to increase destinations to over 50 and double fleet strength in next two years."

[987654]

Hi qatari 515
Wher is the asia market opening for A330 pilots? am I missing something. Would appreciate any help.

[A300Man]

There is a Qatar Airways management delegation right now in Shanghai and Seoul, finalising proposed services to both destinations.

One, I believe, will be an extension of the other.

Additionally, rumours are rife that within six to eight months, the four times weekly Manchester service will be extended twice a week to either Glasgow or Edinburgh (most probably Glasgow).

[nickmelb]

hey a300man!

how r u???!!! long time no here mate!

when is the recruitment team from QR coming back to oz? any ideas

cheers m8
:O

[A300Man]

Nickmelb

I am OK. Sent you and e-mail. I have no idea when the QR team are heading back to Oz, but it will surely be soon.

The Ansett folks who joined seem to be getting on OK, have flown with a lot of them lately.

I will try and find out whats going on and drop you another line.

A300Man

[Bang]

The news about flights to Australia,seems true.It is however not clear,if the flights are going to be via colombo.

It is also true (As another member mentioned),that a team of manegers were recently in Doha to do the paper work and sign documents,relating to the oparation of the Australia flights.

Bang.

[Hong Kong Layover]

Qatar Air ways has now been allowed with the "sixth freedom right" out of sri-lanka,and that QR can now operate to singopore or Australia out of CMB

[A300Man]

The 4th Qatar Airways A330 has been delayed in delivery by one month. This, combined with poorer loads on certain European sectors means that certain London flights will now route through Frankfurt (QR005) and Milan flights will (on occasion) route via Munich and vice versa. This is just a temporary blip in the system, one hopes.

There has also been questions raised over the new Rome flights, since the Italian Authorities are not keen on allowing QR to have two inbound landings within the same country (Rome was to be an extension of Milan).

Look out for Doha-Rome-Madrid soon.

Also, Doha-Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur has just started on certain days of the week. Can't imagine what loads will be like on that sector.

A300Man

[abuspilot]

I agree with Qatari 515 this time!

We are working like dogs no one is happy everybody complains but we don't do nothing abou it! IFALPA is aware of whats going on in side this company and a few others associations who I won't mentioned. And believe me they are checking our company by inside feed back! so carry on!

:cool:

[newswatcher]

From "the Peninsula"(1/4):

"Qatar Airways is all set to launch its non-stop service to Manchester in UK tomorrow.

The airline will operate services to UK’s northwest gateway four times a week, taking its schedule to Britain from 11 to 15 flights a week, a press statement issued by Qatar Airways said yesterday.

The airline operates 11 flights a week from Doha to Heathrow in London.

“This is an exciting development for Manchester Airport,” the chairman of Manchester Airport, Councillor Brian Harrison, was quoted as saying of Qatar Airways’ proposed Doha-Manchester service.

This service will make the Middle East more accessible from the north of England and offer outbound passengers from the UK the ability to fly on with Qatar Airways to other international destinations, Harrison added.

Manchester will become Qatar Airways’ 40th destination with the carrier committed to notching up 50 destinations by the end of this year.

Qatar Airways, which operates 43 flights a week from the UAE, will operate flights to Doha from Abu Dhabi, which will conveniently link in with the non-stop service to Manchester.

The airline will operate flights to Manchester from Dubai every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

On Tuesdays and Saturdays, flight QR115 will leave Dubai International Airport at 2345 hours, arriving in Doha for the connecting non-stop flight to Manchester-QR041-which will leave at 0125 hours every Wednesday and Sunday, arriving in Manchester at 0625 hours.

On Mondays and Thursdays, flight QR101 will depart from Dubai airport at 1030hours, arriving in Doha for the connecting flight to Manchester-QR043-which will depart Doha International Airport at 1235 hours and arrive in Manchester at 1755 hours.

Qatar Airways’ service from Abu Dhabi to Manchester will operate four times a week. On Mondays and Thursdays, flight QR125 will leave Abu Dhabi International Airport at 1055hours for the flight to Doha and the connecting QR043 service to Manchester.

Qatar Airways will initially use a twin-engined, wide-bodied Airbus A300-600R aircraft on its Doha-Manchester route, with 224 seats in a three-class configuration. The service will have 12 seats in first class, 18 in business and 194 in the economy class."

[A300Man]

But tonight's inaugural to Manchester, Newswatcher, has only ten passengers booked! (And that includes the CEO and his team, so not the best load-wise at all!)

I wish them the best on it though. Will be nice to see how the venerable old A300's cope all the way to Man!

[newswatcher]

A300man, let's just say that to launch a new route to the Middle East at this particular time is probably not in the top 10 of "ways to make an airline profitable"!

[mutt]

Not necessarily so Newswatcher. SVA launched a new route to Cochin, India on the 29th March. The first 4 flights have operate with over 400 pax each way.

Looking on the bright and selfish side.... traveling standby to Europe or the USA is easy......


Mutt :D

[newswatcher]

I think you may be a little mischievous there Mutt. Not many expat workers are based in the North-west!

[HF-in-Doha]

A300Man,

How is Manila going to be non-stop then, will it be with the A300 with a tech stop somewhere along the way? This month London, Paris, Colombo, Dubai and Manila are all scheduled to get the A330-200 they can't do it with only 3 332.

"I wish them the best on it though. Will be nice to see how the venerable old A300's cope all the way to Man!"

With 10 passengers it would be like a walk in the park :p. The route was doing quite well towards the end of April with at least one fully booked flight but that all changed after the war started.

"A300man, let's just say that to launch a new route to the Middle East at this particular time is probably not in the top 10 of "ways to make an airline profitable"

QR's new routes to Cochin and Islamabad are doing extremely well, so it all depends on the destination really.

[A300Man]

The first direct flight to Manila went on the A330 - A7-ACA. The same aircraft is en-route back from Manila right now.

Dubai and Colombo will probably see some schedules operated on the A300 to compensate for the equipment shortage.

[HF-in-Doha]

Thanks for the info A300Man. The aircraft is shown on the reservation system as a 2 class aircraft, I am sure the J-class passengers got a treat and were taken to F.

[ekatehtnohsabuD]

Sorry to pour cold water on your optimism (I must stop doing this!!!)....but.....

Re MAN...very little cargo will be carried once this flight fills up (pax wise) as it will be so payload restricted both ways particularly in the Summer ex DOH when temps are in the 40's. Would it be more logical whilst MAN loads are low to try and route them via FRA instead on the "certain Londons". I agree not a good time to lauch a European service (mostly will be UK Asians who use it anyway)....intra gulf & subcontinent will, i guess, be largely unaffected by the perception of the war.

Ref MNL...I originally heard they were looking to mount a 1 class nonstop service to MNL using a 332...however in reality what will happen with a 2 class service is that there will mostly be few J class and they will dilute the product, like they do on routes like DAC for example where we serve sub standard food for the labour traffic (no offence to them intended) and its invariably a 1 class service although its advertised as a 2 class. How can we compete with people like EK who change their configs but keep half decent food. Even the Catering Manager (now left) agreed on that one!

Ref SYD...originally the routing was planned via CGK (not CMB) with an hour 20 turnaround with departure ex SYD only 20 mins before the non-negotiable curfew. Connections on the way back were not very good to Europe as I remember. The good old payload restricted A300 would op that. Don't know whats happened since then...but thats good planning for you!

Ref FCO..an idea put forward by new Country Manager Italy which was considered, approved and schedule issued all within 3 days.....but thats good market research for you!

Well done MF you surpassed yourself...particularly with the news that the Italians havent approved it. Interestingly MAD or Malaga was on MF's board as an extention of CMN as was (at one time) a new direct service DOH to Havana...I'm sure they'll be very popular!!

As a footnote...seeing all the coverage of the war and seeing profiles of Saddam with his fear culture, pyramid system of rule, everything being approved by him only etc...remind you of anyone??? Maybe AAB's read Saddams autobiography!!!

[Goldstone]

Similarities between AAB and Saddam ... very good ... I hadn't thought of that!! Fear culture, people afraid to speak their minds etc. etc.

ekatehtnohsabuD, is the suggestion made in your user name true? I had heard the rumour. If you wanted a job badly enough it could cost you!!

[ekatehtnohsabuD]

Goldstone,
The rumour is common knowledge but I've seen nothing that proves categorically yet but I've seen things that certainly point very much in that direction. I,ve rarely ever come across a more imcompetent, rude and unpopular guy than him (apart from AAB of course). Talk on other threds of a snake, but this guy is the biggest snake of all.

As far as the other point is concerned, we can all try to guess who we all are through what we write (I'm sure we are all careful) but as far them firing me for, they've gotta prove who I am first. Having said that they could fire me for wearing the wrong color underpants... so it makes no difference as far as they or I are concerned.

Incidentally just found this on a website...even the journo's get sucked in to this sham.....

"QATAR AIRWAYS chief executive Akbar Al Baker was the guest of honour
at a crowded Aviation Club lunch last week, the first ever speaker
from the Arab world. He proved to be a witty and decisive ambassador
for his country and airline “a total aviation man?who clearly knows
his business and is adapt in the English language. Qatar Airways is on
a great march forward with growth exceeding that of the budget
carriers, 42.5% in the current year. By the end of 2004 the Doha based
carrier will serve 50 destinations as against the current 38. He
criticised the government of India for restrictive practices
reaffirming his belief in “open skies? Without prompting from the
floor he made clear his intention to join one of the alliances.
However he is focussed on Qatar Airways and what makes it tick. Not
for Mr Al Baker investment or consultancy with other carriers. With a
new airport to build, the takeover of the national hotel company and
other interests such as tourism he and Qatar Airways have more than
enough on their plate."

[Goldstone]

ekatehtnohsabuD:

Would agree with the description entirely. Not a nice man at all.

A friend of mine attended the Aviation Club lunch at which AAB spoke. Apparently he did in fact come across quite well. Better than many expected. However that does not change the fact that he's a little s**t.

[ekatehtnohsabuD]

Thanks Golstone...I can only second that!