DOHA: Qatar Airways, which operates daily services between Saudi Arabia and Doha, launched its daily nonstop flights between Doha and New York on Sunday despite the continuing Boeing strike affecting aircraft deliveries. This follows Boeing’s assurance to the Doha-based carrier that its fourth Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft to be used on its route will be delivered in time and will not affect the New York operational schedule. Once delivered, the aircraft will be paired with a second Boeing 777, which arrived in Doha at the end of August, to begin the daily nonstop service linking Qatar’s capital with New York’s JFK International Airport.
Qatar Airways’ existing six-flights-a-week operation to New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport via Geneva has proved “very successful” since its launch in summer 2007, Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al-Baker said in Doha from where journalists from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were flown to Houston on a familiarization tour. Houston will be the ‘five-star” airline’s third US destination when it starts its operations to the largest city in the State of Texas. Houston is home to natural oil resources and more than 3,500 energy-related businesses. Qatar, on the other hand, is home to the world’s third largest gas reserves and is acknowledged as the global leading exporter of gas-to-liquids fuel (liquefied natural gas).
“We look forward to offering an enhanced service to and from one of the world’s most important cities by switching the flights from Newark to JFK,” he added. “We already serve Washington nonstop from Doha so the additional capacity into New York will give us double daily flights between Qatar and the United States,” Al-Baker said.