Qatar Airways

About Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C., operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. It was established by the government of Qatar in 1993, and has been 100% state-owned since 2013. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, with 170 international routes from its base at Hamad International Airport. The airline currently operates a fleet of more than 200 aircraft. Qatar Airways Group employs more than 43,000 people. The carrier has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013, and the official company slogan has been "Going Places Together", since 2015. The airline has faced controversies over employee pay and working conditions, as well as accusations of bribery to European politicians. Source: "Qatar Airways" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_Airways), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Qatar Airways is an active scheduled passenger airline based in Qatar. You will see it in booking systems as IATA QR, and on the radio as "QATARI". OpenFlights tracks roughly 278 scheduled route pairs flown under its codes, reaching about 133 separate destinations.

Network and hubs

The network depends on three things: where the airline holds slots, the aircraft sitting in its fleet, and the bilateral agreements between Qatar and the countries it serves. Like most carriers of its size, Qatar Airways operates from one or more home hubs, feeds nearby countries with regional flying, and stretches into longer thin routes wherever the demand and the aircraft line up.

Cabins and onboard product

What it feels like onboard depends on the part of the market the airline competes in. A short-haul, single-aisle fleet usually offers a flexible economy product and a front cabin that converts to business class on selected sectors. Longer-haul rotations, where they exist, add lie-flat business seats and sometimes a premium economy cabin in between. Catering, baggage rules, seat-selection charges and buy-on-board pricing all change with the route and the fare class, so the most reliable way to set expectations is to read the fare conditions at the moment you book.

Loyalty and partnerships

Frequent-flyer benefits depend on whether Qatar Airways belongs to a global alliance or runs bilateral partnerships with another carrier. Where alliance membership is in place, members of partner programmes can normally credit miles, get into lounges with eligible status, and through-check baggage on a single ticket. Even outside alliances, codeshare and interline agreements often let you build a simple combined itinerary on one record.

Operating notes

Operationally, Qatar Airways is registered in Qatar and answers to that country's civil aviation authority. Onward flying follows the rules of every other country it serves. When you book, keep its IATA and ICAO codes handy for matching codeshare flight numbers, double-check terminal assignments at multi-terminal airports, and confirm any visa or transit rules that apply to the routing rather than only the marketing carrier on the ticket.

Sample destinations

A sample of destinations served by Qatar Airways in the public schedule. Open any airport for its own terminal and route guide.