As airlines across the world suspend operations and borders close, Qatar Airways continues to take to the skies to fly as many people home as possible. The airline is currently operating flights to 75 destinations, though this may drop as nations introduce tighter restrictions.
The airline has flown more than 100,000 passengers home in the last seven days while 72 percent of passengers carried on 24 March were nationals flying to their country of origin.
Numbers show load factors of over 80 percent for flights to the UK, France and Germany, with a fall to 36 percent for outbound services from those countries, which, Qatar Airways says, illustrates the demand for homeward travel.
In coordination with embassies around the world, the airline has operated one-off services from destinations such as Phnom Penh, Denpasar, Manila and Kuala Lumpur to Europe. These services flew more than 5,000 passengers home over the last week, a number that is expected to more than triple over the next week.
The airline says its aircraft are equipped advanced air filter systems, and that its staff undergo vigorous bio-security screening, allowing it to continue operating a significant number of flights.
New additions to the airline include:
- 10,000 extra seats added to its network
- The provision of charter services to Europe and the US from Asia
- The addition of extra flights to Paris, Perth and Dublin from Doha
- Upgrading services to Frankfurt, London Heathrow and Perth with the addition of the Airbus A380 on those routes
For more information and a full list of operational routes, go to https://www.qatarairways.com/en/travel-alerts/COVID-19-update.html
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