"We are very pleased to resume flights to London Gatwick, further cementing our position as the leading international carrier providing connectivity to the UK," said Qatar Airways Group chief executive, HE Akbar al-Baker.
(image)
Big Ben and Houses of parliament in London
Besides daily flights to Gatwick, the national carrier will have three weekly flights to Edinburgh, three daily flights to Heathrow and two daily flights to Manchester.
The UK passengers can connect seamlessly and safely via Doha, which is the best airport in the Middle East, to more than 40 destinations across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South Asia.
Terming the UK as a very important strategic market for Qatar Airways; al-Baker said the resumption of London Gatwick services is a significant indicator of the resilience of the UK travel market.
"We look forward to resuming more of our UK destinations to support the recovery of tourism and trade in the region,” he said.
Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said it has implemented a number of extra measures to keep both passengers and staff as safe as possible travelling through Gatwick, which is helping to rebuild public confidence in air travel.
Qatar Airways Cargo currently operates eight freighters per week to London Heathrow and London Stansted in the UK. During the pandemic, the cargo carrier operated a large number of charters and freight-only passenger aircraft to the UK to support British exporters and transport essential medical supplies and PPE to the region.
With the resumption of passenger flights to London Gatwick, Qatar Airways Cargo will operate 74 weekly flights to the UK, providing more than 1,400 tonnes of weekly cargo capacity each way.
The airline’s mix of modern fuel-efficient aircraft has meant its network has never fallen below 30 destinations throughout this crisis. With one of the youngest long-haul fleets, the airline has been able to adapt its plans and quickly resume routes to rebuild its global network.
By optimising its mix of aircraft and grounding its A380 fleet, the airline continues to fly only the right sized aircraft on all routes to the UK, reducing its environmental impact by offering sensible and responsible capacity to meet both passenger and cargo demand.
According to the latest IATA data, since April Qatar Airways has become the largest international carrier, helping take home over 2mn people on over 20,000 flights.
Passengers flying business class on Qsuite equipped aircraft can enjoy full privacy, including sliding privacy partitions and fully closing doors. They can also opt to use the ‘Do Not Disturb (DND)’ indicator in their private suite, if they wish to limit their interactions with the cabin crew.
Qsuite continues to be available on flights to more than 30 destinations including London, Sydney, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.