Qatar Airways mulls Gatwick route as flight to Heathrow upgraded to 787
ATP- Arab tourism portal- Qatar Airways is examining the business case for its first flights to London Gatwick airport as well as services to Ireland as the second-biggest Gulf airline plans its next moves for expansion in the British Isles. With slots at London’s crowded Heathrow hub tough to come by, flying to Gatwick would be the next best option for adding seats to the UK capital, Richard Oliver, country manager for the UK and Ireland, said in an interview.
Qatar Airways this week boosted capacity at Heathrow, where it has six daily flights, by dropping its 40-business-seat Airbus A319 service to Doha in favour of a Boeing 787 with 254 seats.
Away from London, it’s looking at serving southwest England and possibly another Scottish airport, Oliver said. “We still see huge potential for growth in Britain,” Oliver said. “There’s a stable economy, a valuable currency and a firm market.”
While Qatar Airways’ first deployment of a 787 to the UK will cut business berths on the flight by 18 versus the A319, the switch, made on Sunday, will still boost revenue, he said.
Flights to Ireland, among options under review, could target either the capital Dublin, competing with Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, or Belfast in Northern Ireland, a location not yet served by any of the three leading Gulf carriers.
Sales on a new route to Birmingham, which starts in March with eight weekly flights, are ahead of expectations, according to Oliver. He said he’d ideally like to offer triple-daily services there, as well on Qatar Airways’ Manchester and Edinburgh routes, to match the three waves of departures from the Doha hub. Bigger wide-body planes may also be deployed in other Heathrow slots, Oliver said.
It’s unlikely the carrier will add to its two Airbus A380 services given the size of the superjumbo fleet, which is six strong, with four on order.
