Qatar Airways Postpones Chengdu Launch; Reduces Chicago Frequency

Qatar Airways has confirmed that it will launch passenger flights to Chicago on 10 April 2013, but with less flights than originally planned.

Scheduled to be daily, the non-stop Doha – Chicago route will now be operated three-times-a-week, rising to a planned daily service from 15 June 2013. Chicago will be the airline's fourth US gateway.

In addition, scheduled flights between Doha and Chengdu, the carrier’s sixth point in China, were due to start with three-flights-a-week from 19 March 2013, but the route launch has been postponed to a later date.

Qatar Airways' corporate planners have been forced to adjust capacity on routes as a result of the grounding of its Boeing 787s.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker, said, “We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience of the capacity adjustments caused by the grounding of the 787s, which is out of our hands. We are making every effort to ensure our valued customers are aware of these service updates and are accommodated accordingly."

See also: Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner Flight Display and Inside the Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner.