Qatar Airways to launch nonstop Auckland flight from December
The new service will become the world's longest commercial flight.
Qatar Airways has confirmed it will launch a nonstop service from Doha to Auckland by the end of the year.
The announcement ends speculation whether the Gulf airline would go ahead after its Dubai-based rival Emirates launched at short notice its own non-stop service to Auckland last week.
Qatar’s new daily service to Auckland will start on December 3 and will also assume the mantle of the world’s longest flight at around 18 hours.
The existing Emirates service takes 17 and a quarter hours to fly from Auckland to Dubai using the long-range version of the Boeing 777-200.
Qatar says it will also use the same model. The airline is a member of the Oneworld alliance, which will enable Qatar to join forces with American Airlines in a round-the-world deal through Auckland.
American will resume flying to New Zealand with a San Francisco-Auckland service from June.
Qatar’s chief executive, Akbar al Baker, also announced a further 13 destinations in Asia, Africa and Europe will be added to the airline's global network within the next two years.
"These new destinations are where our customers want to go, and where we see the most opportunity to provide a best-in-class experience at great value. We look forward to growing our network and welcoming new passengers to Qatar Airways.”
The new destinations, apart from Auckland, are:
Asia: Krabi (Thailand) on December 6 and three flights per week to Chiang Mai (Thailand) also in December.
Europe: Pisa (Italy) on August 2; Sarajevo (Bosnia) on September 7; Helsinki (Finland) on October 10; Skopje (Macedonia) in November; and Nice (France) by summer 2017.
Africa: Marrakech (Morocco) in July; Windhoek (Namibia) September 28; Seychelles daily will resume on December 12; Douala (Cameroon) and Libreville (Gabon) in January 2017; and Lusaka (Zambia) by northern summer 2017.
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Nevil Gibson
Thu, 10 Mar 2016
Thu, 10 Mar 2016
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Qatar Airways to launch nonstop Auckland flight from December
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