Trio of Routes hosts secure Qatar Airways flights

Accra in Ghana, Cebu in the Philippines and Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan are all set to be added to Gulf carrier Qatar Airways' network later this year. The three destinations hosted Routes Africa 2018, Routes Asia 2019 and Routes Silk Road 2019 respectively.

Qatar will fly from Doha to Accra daily from April 15, 2020; 3x-weekly to Cebu from April 8; and 2x-weekly to Nur-Sultan from Mar. 30.

The oneworld member is also adding five other new destinations to its network. They are Almaty, Kazakhstan; Trabzon, Turkey; Lyon, France; Luanda, Angola; and Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The eight new routes were announced on the opening day of the Kuwait Aviation Show.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “Eight new destinations will be joining our network this year in addition to the recently announced gateways of Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Osaka, Japan.

“With these new routes, our operations will expand to 177 destinations around the world, reinforcing our position as one of the world’s most connected airlines.”

Qatar’s new destinations are as follows:

  • Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan – 2x-weekly flights (starting Mar. 30)
  • Almaty, Kazakhstan – 2x-weekly flights starting April 1, increasing to 4x-weekly flights from May 25
  • Cebu, Philippines – 3x-weekly flights (starting April 8)
  • Accra, Ghana – Daily flights (starting April 15)
  • Trabzon, Turkey – 3x-weekly flights (starting May 20)
  • Lyon, France – 5x-weekly flights (starting June 23)
  • Luanda, Angola – 4x-weekly flights (starting Oct. 14)
  • Siem Reap, Cambodia – 5x-weekly flights (starting Nov. 16)

Routes reported earlier this week that Qatar plans to open its inaugural routes to Kazakhstan in March. The launch follows Kazakhstan's decision to introduce an open skies regime at 11 airports from Nov. 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, the route to Cebu follows hot on the heels of Philippine Airlines (PAL) confirming it will resume service between the Philippine city and Los Angeles. Flights will be three times per week using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The route marks a service resumption for PAL, which operated flights between the destinations from March 2016 to May 2017.

David Casey

David Casey is Editor in Chief of Routes, the global route development community's trusted source for news and information.