Qatar Airways has announced additional U.S. flights in advance of the holiday season that include resuming services to Miami (MIA) with two weekly flights from 14 November and increasing weekly frequencies to both Chicago (ORD) and New York (JFK). After maintaining operations to take more than 220,000 passengers home to the U.S. since the onset of the pandemic, the carrier is now committing to helping travelers get home safely to see their loved ones this holiday season. 

This news comes as the airline continues to strengthen its network across the globe by putting a priority on reinstating flights throughout the pandemic and adding new destinations, while also leaning into strategic partnerships. This most recently includes the announcement of San Francisco (SFO) as the airline’s newest U.S. destination – the only nonstop service this winter between San Francisco and the Middle East – set to launch on 15 December 2020.

The two weekly Miami flights, as well as the additional Chicago frequencies, will be flown on Qatar Airway’s spacious Boeing 777-300ER featuring 42 seats in the award-winning Qsuite Business Class cabin and 312 seats in Economy Class. The additional New York frequencies will be operated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900 featuring 36 Qsuites and 247 seats in Economy.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Our holiday schedule will help ensure customers traveling to see loved ones have more travel options with more global connections and flexibility to alter their bookings if their plans change. Our deep commitment to strengthening our network in the incredibly important U.S. market has been underscored since the onset of the pandemic as we continually analyse where we can resume flights, add frequencies and launch new destinations. We are pleased to further this commitment by resuming our flights to Miami this holiday season and adding more frequencies to other key U.S. markets like Chicago and New York. Our growth is based on providing the best connections between the U.S. and the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia, and with these new holiday flights we are continuing to offer passengers the optimal connectivity and reliability they are looking for.”

“It is with great joy that Miami International Airport welcomes the resumption of passenger service by Qatar Airways back to Miami-Dade County,” said Lester Sola, MIA Director and CEO. “Since 2014, nonstop Miami-Doha service by Qatar Airways has helped nearly 900,000 passengers connect between South Florida, the Middle East and beyond. We look forward to seeing their award-winning service back at MIA, and we congratulate them on their successful return.”

U.S. Holiday Flight Schedule Additions:

• Miami (MIA) to Doha (DOH): QR 778 departs at 18:35 every Wednesday and Saturday and arrives at 16:25+1.

• Chicago (ORD) to Doha (DOH): QR 724 departs at 01:30 every Saturday and Monday and arrives at 23:35.

- Above holiday service accompanies QR 726 – departing daily at 19:10 and arriving at 17:15+1.

• New York (JFK) to Doha (DOH): QR 704 departs at 01:00 every Saturday and Tuesday and arrives at 21:15.

- Above holiday service accompanies QR 702 – departing daily at 21:00 and arriving at 17:15+1 along with the current 5x weekly QR 704 services.

The World’s Best Airline, and the largest international carrier operating from April to July according to the latest IATA data, has continued to grow and innovate since the onset of the pandemic with industry-leading flexible booking policies, comprehensive health and hygiene measures and growing global network.

Business Class passengers enjoy the award-winning Qsuite business class seat, featuring sliding privacy doors and the option to use a ‘Do Not Disturb (DND)’ indicator. The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky.

The launch of Miami’s holiday flights in November will increase Qatar Airways’ U.S. network to 61 weekly flights to 10 destinations in the U.S., connecting onwards to hundreds of American cities through strategic partnerships with American Airlines and JetBlue. Miami joins existing U.S. destinations including San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL) and Washington, D.C. (IAD).

Onboard, Qatar Airways has stringently implemented the most advanced hygiene measures, including the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for cabin crew and a complimentary protective kit and disposable face shields for passengers. Additionally, the carrier recently became the first international carrier to operate Honeywell’s Ultraviolet (UV) Cabin System, further advancing its hygiene measures onboard.

Qatar Airways’ variety of modern fuel-efficient aircraft has allowed the airline to continue flying by offering the right capacity in each market. Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the carrier has taken the decision to ground its fleet of Airbus A380s as it is not commercially or environmentally justifiable to operate such a large aircraft in the current market. The airline’s fleet of 49 Airbus A350 and 30 Boeing 787 are the ideal choice for the most strategically important longhaul routes, including those in the U.S.