Qatar Airways marks 10 successful years since its inaugural flight between Doha and Montréal
- Since 2011, Qatar Airways’ commitment to the Canadian market has strengthened international trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges
- Hamad International Airport, the Best Airport in the Middle East, is the only hub in the region to offer service to both of Canada’s largest cities
DOHA, Qatar, 2021-Jul-02 — /Travel PR News/ — Qatar Airways marked a milestone in its history with Canada, celebrating 10 successful years since its inaugural flight between Doha and Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL). The airline’s journey in Canada began in June 2011 with three weekly flights to Montréal, later expanding to four weekly in December 2018 and then reaching a daily service in February 2021.
Qatar Airways never stopped flying to Montréal throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and the airline continues to provide a lifeline for Canadians returning home from all over the world. After working closely with the Government of Canada and its embassies at the height of the global health emergency, Qatar Airways also temporarily operated three weekly services to Toronto in addition to multiple charter flights to Vancouver to help bring home more than 44,000 Canadian citizens and residents stranded abroad.
Since its inaugural flight in June 2011, Qatar Airways has flown more than 3,400 times between Doha and Montréal, enabling nearly 1 million business and leisure passengers to connect to popular destinations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and beyond. The Montréal service is currently operated by Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art fuel-efficient Airbus A350-900 featuring 36 seats in the award-winning Qsuite Business Class and 247 seats in Economy Class. Qatar Airways Cargo also offers more than 100 tonnes of cargo capacity each week in each direction on the Doha- Montréal -Doha route.
Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Canada has always been close to us at Qatar Airways. I remember the pride I felt when we first touched down in Montréal in 2011, and I knew then that this was just the beginning of a strong and enduring relationship with Canada. Over the years we have witnessed the benefits of our services to Canada that extend well beyond our mission of bringing people together. Our flights have enabled travellers from around the world to experience Canada’s iconic hospitality while supporting the export of Canadian products to overseas markets.
“Our commitment to Canada is steadfast and we are grateful for our unique partnership with the Government of Canada which has strengthened since 2011, most recently through our combined repatriation efforts to bring thousands of stranded Canadians safely home during the pandemic. All of us at Qatar Airways were particularly touched when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau extended his gratitude to the airline for supporting Canada during this unprecedented crisis. Today, we celebrate 10 years of true friendship in aviation.”
The Qatar Airways Group is also proud to employ over 150 Canadian nationals at its headquarters in Doha and across the network.
Like Canada, Qatar Airways recognises the importance of demonstrating environmental leadership to save our planet. The airline is constantly exploring sustainable approaches to aviation and its investments in the most fuel-efficient aircraft – including the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 – underscore Qatar Airways’ commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Qatar Airways has reinforced its commitment to Canadian passengers and travel trade for the past 10 years. Lately, these efforts have also contributed to boosting Canada’s global connectivity to support the recovery of tourism and trade as the world emerges from the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the aviation industry and, despite this, Qatar Airways never ceased operations and worked diligently to take people home safely and reliably throughout the crisis. The airline has also added eight new destinations in the past 12 months including San Francisco and Seattle in the US, Abidjan, Abuja, Accra and Luanda in Africa, and Brisbane and Cebu in Asia Pacific. Passengers can expect ever more optimised connectivity as the airline launches services to Lusaka and Harare from 6 August 2021.
As travellers return to the skies with Qatar Airways, they can take comfort knowing that they are travelling with the only airline in the world that has, together with its state-of-the-art global hub Hamad International Airport, achieved four 5-Star Skytrax ratings – including the prestigious 5-Star Airline Rating, 5-Star Airport Rating, 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating and 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. These achievements highlight Qatar Airways’ commitment to providing our passengers with an industry-leading experience at every point of their journey, including the highest possible level of health and safety standards that safeguard the wellbeing of our passengers both on the ground and in the air. For full details of all the measures that have been implemented onboard and in HIA, please visit qatarairways.com/safety.
Montreal Flight Schedule: 7x per week (local timings)
Doha (DOH) to Montreal (YUL) QR 763 departs: 08:25 arrives: 14:40
Montreal (YUL) to Doha (DOH) QR 764 departs: 21:15 arrives: 16:20 +1
Notes to Editors:
About Qatar Airways:
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’ and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. Qatar Airways is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted “Skytrax Airline of the Year” title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.
Hamad International Airport (HIA), the airline’s home and hub, was recently ranked “Third Best Airport in the World”, among 550 airports worldwide, by the SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2020. Rising from fourth position in 2019 to third in 2020, HIA has been steadily rising in the ‘World’s Best Airports’ rankings since the start of its operations in 2014. In addition, HIA was voted the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ for the sixth year in a row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Middle East’ for the fifth year in a row.
Qsuite, a patented Qatar Airways product, features the industry’s first-ever double bed in Business Class, as well as privacy panels that stow away, allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room, a first of its kind in the industry.
Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 160 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.
Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system offers passengers up to 4,000 entertainment options from the latest blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games and much more. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, B777, A350, A380, A319 and select A320 and A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the award-winning airline’s on-board Wi-Fi and GSM service.
Qatar Airways proudly supports a range of exciting international and local initiatives dedicated to enriching the global community that it serves. Qatar Airways, the official FIFA partner, is the official sponsor of many top-level sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, reflecting the values of sports as a means of bringing people together, something at the core of the airline’s own brand message – Going Places Together.
Qatar Airways Cargo, one of the world’s leading international air cargo carriers, serves more than 60 freighter destinations worldwide via its world-class Doha hub and also delivers freight in the belly-hold deck of passenger aircraft to an extensive network. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet includes two Boeing 747-8 freighters, 24 Boeing 777 freighters and six B777-300ER mini freighters.
Qatar Executive is the private jet charter division of Qatar Airways Group. Luxury jet services are available for worldwide charter on board the operator’s wholly-owned business jet fleet. Qatar Executive is the launch customer for Gulfstream’s G700, the world’s first commercial service operator of the Gulfstream G500 and largest commercial operator of the G650ER worldwide. Qatar Executive’s service portfolio also includes aircraft management, maintenance and Fixed Based Operator services.
For further information, please contact:
Qatar Airways Group, Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +974 4022 2200
Email: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa
Source: Qatar Airways
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