Why Qatar Airways Is Winning In North America

Qatar Airways has 13 non-stop routes to North America, with this region one of the few growth areas for the airline, helped by Seattle and San Francisco starting in recent months. Crucial for Qatar Airways is its well-oiled Doha hub, with nearly 90% of its US/Canada passengers connecting over it – but to where?

North America is a growing market for Qatar Airways, with a record 2.8 million seats this year despite coronavirus, up by 3% over 2019 and more than double the volume in 2014. Of course, this says nothing of fares, passengers, or loads, but it does reflect its commitment to the region. This will be boosted even further given the expanded codeshare partnership with JetBlue, announced today (April 13th).

13 routes to North America

Qatar Airways now has 13 non-stop routes from Doha to North America, up by two versus 2019. Seattle was added earlier in 2021, benefiting from Alaska Airlines joining oneworld and the feed available to fellow member Qatar Airways over the Washington state airport. San Francisco, meanwhile, was inaugurated by Qatar Airways in late 2020.

JFK still #1, but Boston no longer #2

New York JFK retains the crown, as expected, followed by Chicago, Dallas, Washington, and Los Angeles. It may be surprising that Boston was Qatar Airways’ second-thickest North America route in 2019, helped by then being operated exclusively by the B777-300ER. However, it has now slipped to 11th, with just a three-weekly offering using the A350-900. This is just temporary and will no doubt benefit from the closer partnership with JetBlue.

88% load factor to North America

Qatar Airways’ had an estimated 88% seat load factor to/from North America in 2019, analyzing OAG data reveals. Nearly 2.4 million passengers were carried in all, with approximately nine in ten connecting over Doha to/from other destinations. This includes ‘online’ connections, such as Los Angeles via Doha to Delhi, and what are known as ‘bridging’ passengers, for instance those flying from Detroit to New York JFK to Doha and finally to Dhaka. The latter saw almost half a million passengers.

Crucial in all of this is the Middle East carrier’s Doha hub, which is very much coordinated for connectivity, as shown below.

12 flights to North America in 50 minutes

On a randomly chosen day, in this case July 15th, Qatar Airways will have 13 departures to North America, along with one with Air Canada. 12 flights will depart between 0745 and 0835. That same day, the ‘Middle East Big Three’ airline will have 12 arrivals, which will be joined by one from the Canadian full-service carrier.

Where in the world?

Not surprisingly, most people – over half – connected between the US/Canada and South Asia in 2019, booking data obtained via OAG Traffic Analyser reveals. This region had nearly four times as many passengers as both number-two Southeast Asia and number-three the wider Middle East.

On a country basis, India was, of course, overwhelmingly the largest over Doha, followed by Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Kuwait, and Sri Lanka completed the top-10.

Dhaka – JFK #1

Dhaka to New York JFK was Qatar Airways’ top O&D, as shown below, but the number of passengers carried wasn’t far ahead of those from Los Angeles to Yerevan. This market may seem unusual, but Greater LA has a huge Armenian population, perhaps nearly half of the US’s total. Over 100,000 passengers flew it in 2019, and Qatar Airways had about a one-quarter share, well behind Aeroflot.

1. Dhaka – New York JFK
2. Los Angeles – Yerevan
3. Manila – Miami
4. Kathmandu – New York JFK
5. Los Angeles – Tehran
6. Atlanta – Hyderabad
7. Atlanta – Ahmedabad
8. Houston – Karachi
9. Atlanta – Mumbai
10. Montreal – Tehran
11. Tehran – Washington
12. Houston – Mumbai
13. Dallas – Hyderabad
14. Bangalore – Dallas
15. Lahore – New York JFK

What surprises you most about Qatar Airways’ North America operations? Comment below!