Qatar Airways commitment to the U.S. market has not waivered throughout this unprecedented crisis. While other airlines from the Gulf stopped operating, Qatar Airways has continued to work closely with the U.S. Government and airports to take over 160,000 stranded people home from Australasia, Africa, India and the Middle East.
The national carrier of the State of Qatar is proud to reaffirm its further commitment to the U.S. with the resumption of flights to New York (JFK) from 19 June (rising to 10 weekly from 2 July) and to Boston, Los Angeles and Washington Dulles from 1 July. This will see the airline’s U.S. network rebuild to 39 weekly flights by mid-July 2020.
With strong existing partnerships with American Airlines and JetBlue in place, the restarting of these flights brings even greater benefits to Qatar Airways passengers. Existing services to Dallas-Forth Worth and Chicago currently enable passengers to book onward travel with American Airlines to almost 180 destinations on more than 350 domestic flights per day. This will increase to more than 600 daily flights with the addition of services to Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Washington Dulles. Qatar Airways’ New York flights and five-weekly Boston flights will also facilitate the resumption of the JetBlue codeshare. Passengers will immediately be able to book travel across the entire JetBlue network on 70 flights per day to 46 destinations.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Since the pandemic outbreak, at Qatar Airways we have been completely focused at fulfilling our mission to bring people home. We worked closely with governments around the world to ensure their stranded citizens could travel home safely and our repatriation efforts were widely recognised and applauded. The United States is historically a hugely significant strategic market for our airline and at the end of April, U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo personally expressed his appreciation of Qatar Airways’ continued assistance and the tremendous efforts extended by the airline to repatriate tens of thousands of Americans.
“With the relaunch of these additional four destinations bringing our total to six, Qatar Airways is clearly demonstrating its strong commitment to the U.S. market. All of the six destinations will be served with a minimum of five weekly flights from mid-July, with 10 weekly flights operating to JFK. Offering unrivalled connectivity via Hamad International Airport in Doha, recently voted the Best Airport in the Middle East for the sixth year in a row, passengers to and from the U.S. can seamlessly connect with over 40 cities across Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Middle East from mid-July. Qatar Airways has continually led the industry during these unprecedented months, accumulating unrivalled experience in carrying passengers safely and reliably. By maintaining a global network that never fell below 30 destinations, Qatar Airways has stayed up to date with the latest in international airport procedures and implemented the most advanced safety and hygiene measures on board its aircraft and in Hamad International Airport.”
Passengers flying Business Class on Qsuite equipped aircraft can avail of the enhanced privacy this award-winning suite provides, including sliding privacy partitions and fully closing doors that create a private sanctuary. Passengers can also opt to use the ‘Do Not Disturb (DND)’ indicator in their private suite, if they wish to limit their interactions with the cabin crew. Qsuite continues to be available on flights to more than 30 destinations including London, Sydney, Singapore and Dallas-Fort Worth with plans to add it to more routes throughout the summer.
Qatar Airways has further enhanced its on-board safety measures for passengers and cabin crew. The airline has implemented several changes, including the introduction of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits for cabin crew while on board, as well as a modified service that reduces interactions between the passengers and the crew inflight. Passengers will also be required to wear face coverings inflight, with the carrier recommending travellers bring their own for fit and comfort purposes.
To ensure travellers can plan their travel with peace of mind, the airline has also extended its booking policies to offer even more choice to its passengers. The airline will allow unlimited date changes, and passengers can change their destination as often as they need if it is within 5,000 miles of the original destination. The airline will not charge any fare differences for travel completed before 31 December 2020, after which fare rules will apply. All tickets booked for travel up to 31 December 2020 will be valid for two years from the date of issuance.
