Qatar Airways ex Cardiff

[brownmanc]

Qatar Airways has announced a Cardiff service at the Arabian Travel Market. More details to follow.

[davidge]

This would be a game changer.

Such a pain having to go to Heathrow every time. Avoiding that would more than make up for not going direct to BKK.

[davidge]

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker has today announced the launch of a new frequent service from Cardiff Airport, linking Wales and south west England to Qatar and significant global markets via Qatar’s capital city Doha in 2018. 

The world-class, 5-star airline renowned for quality and excellent customer service has announced Cardiff Airport as the only new planned UK route in its network for 2018.  

The service from Cardiff Airport will be the first regular direct long-haul flight linking Wales and south west England to a major global hub in the Gulf region, benefiting both leisure and business travellers.

Services will fly between Cardiff and Hamad International Airport in Doha, which since opening in 2014 is one of the world’s largest hub airports with more than 30 million passengers using the state-of-the-art facilities each year. Via the hub, Qatar Airways connects to more than 150 destinations across 6 continents including key routes to Australia, UAE, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, South Africa and China.

The new service will stimulate inbound tourism to and from the region as a major gateway to the UK.

Deb Barber, CEO at Cardiff Airport said; “I am immensely proud that Qatar Airways has chosen Cardiff Airport to operate its new service to Doha. It is fantastic that we will now be able to offer our customers more choice of travel with a world-class airline providing easy connections to destinations across the world.   

“More than 1 million passengers per year from our region are travelling to destinations that are on the Qatar Airways network. Over 90% of these passengers are currently travelling via London and this new service will give them the opportunity to fly more conveniently from Cardiff, their local airport.  

“It has been a long journey to get to this stage, with discussions spanning a number of years. Over the coming months we will work with the team at Qatar Airways to confirm the details of the service and look forward to the flights being on sale in the near future.”   

Roger Lewis, Chairman at Cardiff Airport added; “This is a ‘game changing’ announcement for Cardiff Airport and for Wales. The benefits of this relationship will be transformational for both businesses and passengers across the south west of England and for Wales.

"I sincerely thank H.E., Mr. Akbar Al Baker, for the trust he and Qatar Airways are placing in us. He is a truly inspirational leader and I am honoured to have worked with him on this project.  

"I am confident that the team at Cardiff Airport will deliver a world-class service with Qatar Airways for all of our passengers both visiting Wales and travelling across the world.

"I look forward to returning to Doha in the near future to further develop this special bi-lateral relationship between Wales, the UK and Qatar."

 

[vimto66]

If i lived in south wales i`d be well chuffed,although i normally fly from Manchester a couple of times i`ve had to trail down to Heathrow and Gatwick for flights and its a pain in the backside,Cardiff is a capital city afterall!

[davidge]

Yes, the only option up to now from CWL has been KLM. I used them a lot years ago but very small planes between CWL & AMS, they've not really updated their offering and fares don't tend to be brilliant.

 

[taylor1975]

3 hours ago, davidge said:

This would be a game changer.

Such a pain having to go to Heathrow every time. Avoiding that would more than make up for not going direct to BKK.

Yikes! how long is that journey?

Good news for the taffs 

[davidge]

Usually takes me 3 hours to drive to LHR - not including stops.

Also means I stay in a hotel there if flight times are early/late. Adds £100 or so to costs.

[taylor1975]

Great news for you pal. 

I bet the fare prices will be good too. 

[davidge]

I fly Biz now but hope the fare is good. They're usually slightly more expensive than Eva or Thai out of LHR but as long as it's in the same ballpark it will be great to avoid Heathrow.

[Drewbrogan]

Qatar's business product is fantastic. I used to only fly Qatar and can not recommend them enough. There's a load of pictures of their biz class that I posted on an old thread here. I love Hamad airport too although it is ridiculous for a beer in the bar if you're flying economy and not in a lounge. 

[davidge]

Aviation journalists guessing service from Cardiff likely to be 4 times a week in an A320 but we'll have to wait and see.

[brownmanc]

A320 ???  Don't think it has the legs Doha-Cardiff . Would expect the usual A330-200 then later B787.

[davidge]

Just stating what a couple of journalists are speculating, including Simon Calder who is usually reasonably accurate. No idea when Qatar will announce details. 

You're right though. Looking at the figures it doesn't appear to have the range.

[mbamber]

5450 Km distance between the two airports according to one website A320 range is 6100 km so they could be correct. Must admit I did not think the A320 had that range until I looked it up.

[davidge]

A website I looked at said it was 6884km which would mean it wouldn't have the range.  Which to believe???

 

Edit: another website says 5420km 

 

[davidge]

Calder says  A320neo range is 4,257 miles and flying distance CWL-DOH is 3,381 miles. So guess it could be used!

[mbamber]

17 minutes ago, davidge said:

A website I looked at said it was 6884km which would mean it wouldn't have the range.  Which to believe???

 

Edit: another website says 5420km 

 

 Yes that one 6884 came up when I asked flying distance but it's driving distance.

[mbamber]

Seat pitch in Business class A320 is 45"  so only a reclining seat but you will still have to pay the higher Air Passenger Duty as more than 40".

[davidge]

13 minutes ago, mbamber said:

Seat pitch in Business class A320 is 45"  so only a reclining seat but you will still have to pay the higher Air Passenger Duty as more than 40".

Was just checking SeatGuru. 2-2-2 in Biz and a bit tight, to be honest. They show 2 versions with Qatar. Size & layout same but one version with lie flat - and fewer Economy.

[brownmanc]

Never seen Qatar use an A320 to the UK  This type of aircraft has been used by Qatar to Athens, Istanbul, Vienna and Rome

A320 could do the UK but with restricted payload/cargo making the route not viable.

[Drewbrogan]

Qatar have also announced they are adding Utapao next year.  It might be worth a look.

[davidge]

1 minute ago, Drewbrogan said:

Qatar have also announced they are adding Utapao next year.  It might be worth a look.

Yes, there's another thread about UTP somewhere.

It will be interesting to see the details of all of this when they're announced. Qatar don't always follow through on this sort of thing though!

Could cut my total travel time considerably.

[basket case]

Was just checking SeatGuru. 2-2-2 in Biz and a bit tight, to be honest. They show 2 versions with Qatar. Size & layout same but one version with lie flat - and fewer Economy.

All QR 777 business class is 2-2-2 lie flat. While lacking the privacy and the all-aisle access of the A380, A350, and 787 seats, the seats are very spacious and extremely comfortable. Service is top notch, and despite the presence of "arabs" on the plane, the lavs are kept immaculately clean by the great crews. Flown them a few times on the LAX-DOH route, and would gladly do it again. Miles ahead of UA, DL, AA, BA, LH ....

Also, QR coming out with a new biz product this year for the 777 and the A350. L9oks excellent.

[davidge]

Just now, basket case said:

 

All QR 777 business class is 2-2-2 lie flat. While lacking the privacy and the all-aisle access of the A380, A350, and 787 seats, the seats are very spacious and extremely comfortable. Service is top notch, and despite the presence of "arabs" on the plane, the lavs are kept immaculately clean by the great crews. Flown them a few times on the LAX-DOH route, and would gladly do it again. Miles ahead of UA, DL, AA, BA, LH ....

Also, QR coming out with a new biz product this year for the 777 and the A350. L9oks excellent.

 

Thanks for the details but I'm guessing if they do use the A320 from CWL as has been suggested it won't be as good as you describe. Qatar do have a very good reputation for Biz Class though.

[OmarB]

17 hours ago, davidge said:

Yes, there's another thread about UTP somewhere.

It will be interesting to see the details of all of this when they're announced. Qatar don't always follow through on this sort of thing though!

Could cut my total travel time considerably.

announced confirmed today about UTP