DOHA, Qatar – Qatar Airways is proud to announce that it will operate a new service between Doha and Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, from 30th March 2016, adding to its existing services to London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh.

With eight flights a week, including two flights on Saturdays, passengers travelling to and from Birmingham will have access to convenient and seamless transfers at the airline’s state-of-the-art hub Hamad International Airport.

Birmingham is the largest and most populous city outside of London and is situated in the West Midlands. The economy is largely dominated by the service sector and the city is an important transport, retail, events and conference hub.

The announcement of this new route further strengthens Qatar Airways’ commitment to the UK regions, with Birmingham being the centre for the largest concentration of businesses outside of London, boasting 34,285 companies including over 700 international firms. The city attracts nearly 34 million people a year for both business and pleasure and is ideally situated at the centre of the UK’s rail and motorway network.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “We are delighted to announce Birmingham as Qatar Airways’ fourth destination in the United Kingdom from March 2016. This additional route strengthens Qatar Airways’ commitment to the regions across the UK and will create new commercial and leisure links between the city of Birmingham and the 152 destinations served by the airline. We look forward to welcoming new passengers on board our award-winning product, and to connecting Birmingham to the rest of our rapidly expanding network.”

Birmingham Airport Chief Executive Officer, Paul Kehoe said: “This is fantastic news for both Birmingham Airport and the region, and is our tenth new airline to announce or launch this year. Not only will our passengers have the choice of flying with the award winning carrier to Doha’s state-of-the-art hub Hamad International Airport, they will have a choice of 152 destinations served by the airline, including South East Asia, China and Australasia.”

The route will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which has a two-cabin configuration, comprising of 22 seats in Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats. All seats include individual television screens, with Economy Class customers benefitting from a screen 10.6-inches wide, offering the latest inflight entertainment comprised of up to 2,000 options while experiencing the airline’s award-winning service. Every seat is an aisle seat in Business Class where passengers can catch up on sleep in a fully-flat bed or make productive use of their time utilising the large work surface area. Passengers can also stay connected while travelling with the option of Wi-Fi which is available throughout the aircraft.

Thanks to HIA’s modern design, passengers from Birmingham can now take advantage of convenient, quick and seamless onward connections to 152 key business and leisure destinations across Qatar Airways' ever-expanding global network, including those in Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, with the West Midlands in the UK now easily accessible from cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Connections between countries such as Pakistan and Australia to Birmingham have never been easier thanks to Qatar Airways. In Pakistan the airline serves seven destinations including Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad. The airline has also recently announced two new destinations in Australia, Sydney and Adelaide, commencing in March and May 2016 respectively, to complement its existing Perth and Melbourne services.

Qatar Airways’ home, Hamad International Airport, houses one of the world’s largest and most luxurious Business Class lounges – the Al Mourjan Business Lounge – and also has over 40,000 square metres of retail space and restaurants that includes a selection of more than 70 retail and 30 food and beverage outlets.

The national airline of the State of Qatar was named the world’s best carrier at the 2015 Skytrax Awards earlier in June, marking the third time the airline has won this coveted accolade. The airline also won Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East.

Schedule between Doha and Birmingham from 30th March 2016:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Doha (DOH) to Birmingham (BHX) departure 01.25 arrival 06.45
Birmingham (BHX) to Doha (DOH) departure 09.15 arrival 18.05

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Doha (DOH) to Birmingham (BHX) departure 07.30 arrival 12.50
Birmingham (BHX) to Doha (DOH) departure 15.00 arrival 23.50

For Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/qatarairways/albums/72157659935808299

Notes to Editors

About Qatar Airways:

Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 18th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 166 aircraft flying to 152 key business and leisure destinations across six continents. Qatar Airways won Airline of the Year, Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East at the 2015 Skytrax Awards. This is the third time the airline has won the accolade of Airline of the Year.

Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld global alliance. The award-winning alliance was named the World’s Best Airline Alliance 2015 by Skytrax for the third year running. Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance, oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.

Qatar Airways recently launched Oryx One, an enhanced interface for its inflight entertainment system, increasing the number of movies and TV shows on board from 950 to up to 2,000. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, A350, A380, A319 and select A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the five-star airline’s on-board Wifi and GSM service.

Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s fifth largest cargo carrier, serves more than 40 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations globally on 166 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet now includes six Airbus 330, eight Boeing 777 freighters and one Boeing 747 freighter.

For more information, visit our homepage www.qatarairways.com or our sites on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube.

For Qatar Airways corporate images, please click here: http://www.qatarairways.com/corporateimages

For further information contact:
Qatar Airways Group, Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +974 40222072, Fax: +974 40225350
E-mail: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa
Website: www.qatarairways.com

About Birmingham Airport:

Birmingham Airport is the UK’s third largest airport outside London, and the UK’s seventh largest overall, handling nearly 10m passengers a year.

Over the last 10 years, Birmingham Airport has invested more than £300m to develop its infrastructure, and has the capacity to handle 36m passengers a year on its single runway.

Find out more about Birmingham Airport at www.birminghamairport.co.uk or on Twitter at bhx_official