British Airways and Qatar Airways announce plan to extend joint business

British Airways and Qatar Airways

British Airways and Qatar Airways mark the next milestone in their Joint Business Partnership, as they announce their intent to extend their Joint Business.

The news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick last week, giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections from Doha to over 100 destinations across the world.

The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft featuring three cabins - Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy).

This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha - five from London Heathrow and one from London Gatwick.

Following on from this milestone in their partnership, the two airlines announce that they intend to further expand their joint business and offer customers access to more destinations on their respective networks.

The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi. It will also improve access to destinations across Europe such as Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said, “Expanding our Joint Business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivalled product.”

Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The launch of our first flight from Gatwick to Doha was an important milestone in our existing joint business with Qatar Airways. The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections. We know customers are always looking for more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles, and this expansion will allow them to do just that.”

The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded Joint Business proposition in the first half of 2022.