Qatar’s state-owned flag carrier, Qatar Airways and UK’s flag carrier airline, British Airways have revealed their plan to extend Joint Business Partnership to offer customers access to more destinations on their respective networks.
The news comes after British Airways relaunched daily flights from Gatwick to Doha, giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections from Doha to over 100 destinations across the world.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft featuring three cabins including Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy). This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha, five from Heathrow and one from Gatwick.
Commenting on the partnership expansion, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive of Qatar Airways Group said, “Expanding our Joint Business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivaled product.”
The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi. It will also improve access to destinations across Europe including Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin.
For his part, Mr. Sean Doyle, British Airways Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, remarked that “The launch of our first flight from Gatwick to Doha was an important milestone in our existing joint business with Qatar Airways. The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections.”
The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded Joint Business proposition in the first half of 2022.
