Qatar Airways to launch Daily Non-Stop Flights between Doha and New York; Discontinue Geneva - New York Service

Qatar Airways is to launch non-stop daily flights between Doha and New York effective from the beginning of the winter 2008 schedules on 26 October 2008.

The airline plans to deploy its brand new Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft on the route shaving close to three hours off the current 17-hour flying time between Doha and New York. Qatar Airways currently operates to the New York gateway city of Newark via Geneva.

As part of the revised operational schedules, Qatar Airways will switch its existing six-flights-a-week between Doha and Newark Liberty International Airport to New York’s JFK Airport and step up frequency to daily non-stop services giving passengers greater choice.

Under the new schedules, Qatar Airways will no longer operate flights between Geneva and New York, but will significantly increase seat capacity between Doha and Geneva, which will become a dedicated service.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the airline had seen significant growth in traffic on the New York route since launching it in June 2007.

“As we have introduced more aircraft into our fleet, we have been able to increase frequency on the New York route from four-flights-a-week to six services in just 12 months,” he said. “The move to New York’s JFK Airport is in response to passenger demand flying to one of America’s premier airports on the US east coast.”

The Boeing 777-300ER will offer a 78-inch Business Class pitch in a 2-2-2 configuration across the 42 premium seats and up to 34-inch pitch on the 293 seats in the economy cabin. The aircraft also features the next generation in-flight entertainment system – the Panasonic eX2 – with more than 700 individual audio and video entertainment options.

Al Baker added, “For the immediate future, our existing flights to Zurich will continue to operate four-times-a-week, but we will shortly be announcing additional frequencies to both Zurich and Geneva with effect from 2009 offering yet more choice for both business and leisure travellers.”

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