Qatar’s national carrier has announced plans to add more flights to Madrid and use larger aircraft for trips to Italy this summer as it continues to expand its European reach.
Qatar Airways said that it would begin operating Airbus A330s on routes to Milan and Venice, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Rome.
The jumbo aircraft will be used for the Rome and Milan routes starting March 29, while Venice will see the bigger planes starting June 16.
Meanwhile, as of July 16, Qatar Airways will add four weekly flights to Madrid’s Barajas Airport using the Boeing 777.
In a statement, Qatar Airways said:
“This announcement to increase flights to a double-daily service to the Spanish capital comes just two months after the successful launch of the 10-weekly service on the Madrid – Doha route (on November 16th) and just weeks after announcing the double-daily scheduled service between Barcelona and Doha, which is set to commence on February 16, 2015.”
Competing with European carriers
Elsewhere in Europe, Qatar Airways this month picked Frankfurt as its first destination to fly the new A350. It is the world’s first airline to fly the planes, which head to the German city twice daily.
Frankfurt is the hub of competitor Lufthansa, which began flying directly to and from Doha in 2011.
Last year, the German airline’s then-CEO said European carriers must rethink the way they do business to better compete with GCC airlines, including Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates.
At the time, Christoph Franz said:
“Let’s imagine – purely theoretically – a country in which nothing exists besides sand and a box of money. What do you have to do to develop this country economically? First you have to build a runway and establish a national carrier…”
And finally, the national carrier has also announced plans to launch direct Doha-Amsterdam flights starting June 16.
This will put it in direct competition with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which launched its direct route in June 2012 and is currently the only operator providing a non-stop flight between Doha and Amsterdam.
Thoughts?
Damn awesome looking winglet on the A350
There is something about a shapely and well-turned winglet that gets my pulse going, particularly together with the flaring curves of an artfully exposed engine cowling. I’m sure that you understand…
Qatar airways has excellent service compared to a number of European and U.S. competitors. This is largely because it is so heavily subsidized, has no labor union, and does not operate in a country that has progressive labor laws. As a result, it can buy newer planes and have more staff in the plane. Anyone who has flown business class on QA to Europe and then caught a connecting flight knows the sharp contrast in service.
It will be interesting to see how Qatar Airways performs when subsidies dwindle as the price of oil plummets. If QP and Qatar Foundation are facing massive budgetary overhauls, Qatar Airways either is or will soon.
I am half Spanish and half Italian.
Qatar Airways planes that go to both countries are small and horrid, old ones mainly and not comfortable at all!! Unless it is summer time and they use the big ones.
Dreamliner??? No thanks. Another reason to take Emirates.
You realize that Both airlines have almost the same seat pitch or width right? even Qatar’s smaller plane have the same seat as their bigger plane. Actually Qatar have 1″ more legroom than Emirates plane (A330). So your facts is wrong.
Unfortunately, Qatar Airways to Frankfurt is usually double (!) the price of Lufthansa, the flights leave at virtually the same time. As long as Qatar Airways does not drop the prices outbound from Doha, I still see a niche market for some European companies such as Lufthansa and KLM for this destination.
QA need to seriously think about its prices. It’s a massive difference between them and other airlines to the same destination! Not only that, the same price on other airlines operating on QA airplanes to the same destination!
I think it’s great that more destinations are being added to their portfolio, however I have found the cost of flying with Qatar Airways is usually a lot higher. Whether true or not, i was told that Qatar Airways is quite competitive when used as a transfer terminal (i.e. changing planes in Doha to fly to your final destination), however when your final destination is Doha, the price is pushed up as they look to take advantage of most customers going their for business (rather than a holiday). Shame, as I quite like the security of flying direct (I have missed 2 out of 2 transfers when flying with Lufthansa – although i understand from others, they are usually quite good).