By Victor Shalton
Qatar Airways Ramps Up Operations in Africa
Qatar Airways is expanding its African reach, launching new routes to Zambia and Zimbabwe to its growing route network beginning August 6.
The new service to Lusaka, Zambia and onwards to Harare, Zimbabwe is scheduled to be operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and will connect passengers in Zambia and Zimbabwe to over 140 destinations on the Qatari airline’s route network
With the addition of these two new routes, the carrier will operate over 100 weekly flights to 27 destinations in Africa.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said, “Africa continues to be an area of strong growth for Qatar Airways and launching this service will support the development of the economy and tourism sector in both countries.”
“Not only do we continue to rebuild our network after the pandemic, but we are actively expanding it with the addition of these two key destinations. These are the fifth and sixth new destinations in Africa added to our network since the start of the pandemic, taking our total new destinations added across the globe to 10,” Al Baker continued.
The launch of Lusaka and Harare will also support increased demand for trade between Zambia and Zimbabwe and destinations on the Qatar Airways network such as London, Frankfurt and New York as well as from multiple points in China. The airline will facilitate key exports from the two countries allowing a total of 30 tonnes of cargo capacity on the aircraft per flight.
Flight schedule for the new route will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays:
Doha (DOH) to Lusaka (LUN) QR1455 departs at 02:20 and arrives at 08:50
Lusaka (LUN) to Harare (HRE) QR1455 departs at 10:20 and arrives at 11:20
Harare (HRE) to Lusaka (LUN) QR1456 departs at 18:55 and arrives at 19:55
Lusaka (LUN) to Doha (DOH) QR1456 departs at 21:25 and arrives 05:55 (+1day)
The Doha based carrier also recently awarded seats to Abidjan, the largest city in Cote d’Ivoire, with the new route becoming the fourth new African destination since the onset of the pandemic. The airline launched a new seervice to Abuja in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana and Luanda in Angola.
The debut flight service landed at Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport on June 16 and will fly 3x weekly utilizing the carrier’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner as well, along with capacity of up to 15 tonnes of cargo.
“Launching flights to Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, our fourth new destination in Africa since the start of the pandemic, after having recently launched Abuja in Nigeria; Accra in Ghana; and Luanda, in Angola is a significant step in our African growth. This is testament to our commitment to the African continent where we now operate over 100 weekly flights to 25 destinations in 18 countries via our home and hub, Hamad International Airport,” Al Baker said.
“At Qatar Airways, being there for our passengers, trade partners and corporate customers has been our major focus since the start of the pandemic. We thank the government of Cte dIvoire for their support to launch these flights, and we look forward to working closely with our partners here to grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in this region. As global travel recovers in 2021, we look forward to further expanding our network and offering more connections to and from Africa,” Al Baker added.
The flight schedule for the service operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with outbound flights from Doha (DOH) to Abidjan (ABJ) with flight number QR1423 departing at 02:30 and arriving at 09:10. Return flights will leave Abidjan (ABJ) for Doha (DOH) with flight number QR1424 departing at 17:20 and arriving at 06:10 (+1 day).
Victor Shalton’s love for aviation can be traced to when he was 11-years-old. As a seasoned aviation writer, he takes pride in providing the best aviation coverage around the globe and is passionate about advancing his skills in the aviation space. In addition, he loves travelling, writing, arts and while his speaking engagements have taken him around the world, he is proud to call Nairobi home.
