Qatar Airways has announced plans to resume service from London’s Gatwick airport next week.
The Gulf carrier will offer daily flights from the south London airport starting August 20.
The route will be operated by a B787 aircraft configured for 22 seats in business class and 232 in economy.
It will be the fourth UK route resumption since the onset of Covid-19, joining Edinburgh (three flights per week), Heathrow (three flights per day) and Manchester (two flights per day) – a total of 45 weekly flights.
Commenting on the news, group CEO Akbar Al Baker said that the UK was “a very important strategic market for Qatar Airways, and we are proud of our repatriation efforts to-date including never stopping services between the UK and Doha that have helped bring over 200,000 passengers home”.
He added that the resumption of services from Gatwick “is a significant indicator of the resilience of the UK travel market, and we look forward to resuming more of our UK destinations to support the recovery of tourism and trade in the region”.
Meanwhile Gatwick airport’s CEO Stewart Wingate said:
“We are delighted to welcome Qatar Airways back to Gatwick after what has been a challenging time for the whole industry. To be able to offer Gatwick passengers the opportunity to fly to Doha – a fantastic city in its own right and a gateway to destinations across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand – is another positive step in the recovery process.”
Qatar Airways has been gradually rebuilding its network following the coronavirus pandemic, and will offer flights to eight US cities and five Australian destinations by next month.