Qatar Airways has introduced a third daily flight between Doha and London Heathrow as part of its expansion in the UK market. In addition, the airline’s Doha - Manchester route has been upgraded from five flights a week to a daily service, all operating non-stop.

The new schedules come into effect to mark the beginning of the Summer 2006 flying programme.

The total number of weekly flights to the UK increases from 26 to 35 - spread across London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester - representing a 35 per cent rise in frequency.

Passengers on all flights to and from the UK are able to experience Qatar Airways’ new inflight service, currently being rolled out on long-haul flights across the airline’s global network. The service in premium cabins of Qatar Airways’ Airbus A330 aircraft takes the flying experience to new heights.

During the recent round of talks between the British and Qatari authorities in London, Qatar Airways was granted additional flying rights to the British capital.

The constructive talks were welcomed by Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, who said the additional flights would further strengthen ties between the two countries.

Qatar Airways strengthens its relationship with UK-based carrier Bmi which codeshares on the new flights between the UK and Qatar. Bmi already codeshares on Qatar Airways’ existing Manchester and Heathrow services. Qatar Airways places its code on 78 bmi flights within the UK and to continental Europe.

The launch of a third daily flight on the London Heathrow route sees the introduction of a morning service from Doha, with the return flight leaving London mid-afternoon on the same day and arriving back shortly before midnight.

With Qatar Airways’ Manchester flights going daily and the airline already serving London Gatwick daily, total capacity between Doha and the UK has risen from 26 to 35 flights a week.

Al Baker said:

‘This is excellent news for the travelling public. More flights mean greater choice. Qatar Airways has been looking forward to adding capacity across the UK, but in particular London Heathrow, which is our flagship route.”

‘Our Manchester flights have performed exceptionally well and we decided to go daily as soon as aircraft availability permitted. The additional Manchester services now provide at least daily flights to and from all of our UK gateway cities.’

Qatar Airways’ new inflight service delivers Fine Dining at 35,000ft, focusing on giving customers greater personal attention and treating them with even more style onboard. Gone is the trolley service in First and Business Class to be replaced by a la carte plates individually prepared and served by cabin crew to each passenger.

Glass plates, individual glass bread bowls, chinaware provided by German company Bauscher and cutlery French-designed by Guy Degrenne, all feature in the new service.

Passengers in First Class are served with individual tea sets and have the additional touch of a personal caviar service. First Class passengers have the added luxury of full-size bed pillows, soft white linen mattresses and Australian wool blankets.

Apart from the food service, the cabin interiors have been modified to provide a fresher look and feel with the highly visible burgundy corporate colours of the airline evident in the redesigned seat fabrics and curtains.

In addition, there are new new-look amenity kits for premium passengers. Business Class passengers are handed kits featuring Aigner products while those travelling in First Class receive luxury kits full of Bulgari products.

All the UK flights offer fast and convenient connections over Qatar Airways’ operational hub of Doha to cities across the Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and Far East.

UK passengers have an additional route to choose from with Qatar Airways’ new daily services to the vibrant and colourful destination of Hong Kong launched on March 26 to become the airline’s third gateway city in Greater China. The airline already operates flights to Beijing and Shanghai.

Qatar Airways’ expansion into Greater China comes in a year when the airline celebrates its partnership as Official Airline of the 15th Asian Games, to be staged in Doha in December.
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