Qatar Airways details World Cup network changes

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int’l) has detailed the operational adjustments it will make to its network in order to cope with a surge in demand for travel to and from Qatar for the duration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, due to run between November 20 and December 18.

“Due to unprecedented demand and a greater focus on bringing football fans to the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East, Qatar Airways is temporarily adapting its operations to a more point-to-point model,” a spokesman told ch-aviation. “Throughout the course of the tournament, we will be reducing frequencies and provisionally scaling back flights to several destinations across our network.”

Destinations that will see their current frequencies cut for the duration of the tournament or until otherwise stated:

1. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reduced from 3x to 2x weekly;
2. Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya, to operate between 7x and 14x weekly, instead of 14x weekly;
3. Maputo, Mozambique, reduced from 4x to 3x weekly;
4. Abuja, Nigeria, reduced from 5x to 3x weekly;
5. Lagos, Nigeria, reduced from 14x to 7x weekly;
6. Cape Town, South Africa, reduced from 10x to 7x weekly until 14 December;
7. Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, South Africa, reduced from 21x to 14x weekly;
8. Khartoum, Sudan, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly;
9. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, reduced from 10x to 7x weekly;
10. Zanzibar, Tanzania, reduced from 14x to 4-7x weekly;
11. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, reduced from 10x to 3-7x weekly;
12. Washington Dulles, USA, reduced from 10x to 7x weekly for part of the tournament;
13. Los Angeles Int’l, USA, reduced from 10x to 7x weekly from 21 November to 14 December;
14. Vienna, Austria, reduced from 10x to 7x weekly;
15. Sofia, Bulgaria, reduced from 4x to 3x weekly;
16. Bucharest Otopeni, Romania, reduced from 10x to 3x weekly;
17. Prague Václav Havel, Czechia, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly until 15 December;
18. Helsinki Vantaa, Finland, reduced from 5x to 3x weekly until 15 December;
19. Berlin Brandenburg Int’l, Germany, reduced from 11x to 7-10x weekly;
20. Athens Int’l, Greece, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly;
21. Dublin Int’l, Ireland, reduced from 11x to 4-10x weekly;
22. Rome Fiumicino, Italy, reduced from 14x to 11x weekly;
23. Milan Malpensa, Italy, reduced from 14x to 10x weekly;
24. Oslo Gardermoen, Norway, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly, 17 November to 5 December;
25. Ankara Esenboga, Turkey, reduced from 5x to 3-4x weekly;
26. Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen, reduced from 14x to 7x weekly 21 November to 18 December;
27. Yerevan, Armenia, reduced from 7x to 3x weekly;
28. Baku, Azerbaijan, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly;
29. Tbilisi, Georgia, reduced from 7x to 5x weekly;
30. Baghdad, Iraq, reduced from 18x to 14x weekly;
31. Basrah, Iraq, reduced from 7x to 5x weekly, 10 December to 18 December only;
32. Amman Queen Alia, Jordan, reduced from 21x to 14x weekly;
33. Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int’l, Pakistan, reduced from 18x to 7x weekly;
34. Karachi Int’l, Pakistan, reduced from 14x to 7x-14x weekly;
35. Lahore Int’l, Pakistan, reduced from 17x to 14x weekly;
36. Madinah, Saudi Arabia, reduced from 17x to 14-17x weekly;
37. Gassim, Saudi Arabia, reduced from 4x to 3x weekly;
38. Dhaka, Bangladesh, reduced from 21x to 14x weekly;
39. Colombo Int’l, Sri Lanka, reduced from 21x to 10x-14x weekly;
40. Amritsar, India, reduced from 7x to 4x weekly, 17 November to 5 December;
41. Kozhikode, India, reduced from 7x to 3x weekly, 17 November to 5 December;
42. Kochi Int’l, India, reduced from 11x to 7x weekly;
43. Malé, Maldives reduced from 28x to 14-21x weekly;
44. Kathmandu, Nepal, reduced from 28x to 14-21x weekly;
45. Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, Indonesia, reduced from 21x to 14x weekly;
46. Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’l, Philippines, reduced from 17x to 14x weekly.

Destinations where service will be suspended for the entire tournament, part of the group phase, and only for a few days:

1. Djibouti (completely suspended for entire tournament);
2. Mogadishu, Somalia (completely suspended for entire tournament);
3. Luxor, Egypt (completely suspended for entire tournament);
4. Kano, Nigeria (completely suspended for entire tournament);
5. Port Harcourt Omagwa, Nigeria (completely suspended for entire tournament);
6. Nagpur, India (completely suspended for entire tournament);
7. Windhoek Int’l, Namibia (resumes 15 December, so suspended for most of the tournament);
8. Lusaka, Zambia (resumes 7 December);
9. Harare Int’l, Zimbabwe (resumes 7 December);
10. Larnaca, Cyprus (resumes 7 December);
11. Multan, Pakistan (resumes 7 December);
12. Peshawar, Pakistan (resumes 7 December);
13. Sialkot, Pakistan (resumes 6 December);
14. Entebbe/Kampala, Uganda (suspended only 2-5 December and 18-20 December);
15. Cebu, Philippines (suspended only 2-4 December and 18-20 December);
16. Clark, Philippines (suspended only 2-5 December and 18-20 December).

As previously reported, Qatar has also reopened Doha Int’l to scheduled passenger traffic in an effort to alleviate congestion at Hamad International Airport.