Qatar Airways Lands In Auckland In World’s Longest Flight

Qatar Airways has launched a record-breaking service to Auckland, New Zealand, making it the operator of the world’s longest commercial flight.

The flight, which takes 17 hours and 30 minutes to cover a distance of 14,535 kilometres nonstop from Doha, touched down in Auckland.

“Arriving in Auckland on Waitangi Day, and achieving the title of world’s longest flight for the return record-breaking service, makes this an even more momentous occasion for Qatar Airways and provides another accomplishment to celebrate in this our 20th year flying the flag internationally for Qatar,” says Al Baker.

“The launch of our new service to Auckland is an important milestone for Qatar Airways as we expand both in the region and globally across our network providing more options and better connections to exciting business and leisure destinations in Europe and the Middle East.” says Al Baker.
Auckland is the first city in New Zealand to be served by Qatar Airways and will provide a gateway for travellers to visit the country, famous for its spectacular coastlines and lush forest landscapes.

It is also the first new destination launch of the year for the airline that added 14 new destinations in 2016 and plans to launch more in 2017/18 including: Yanbu and Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; Dublin, The Republic of Ireland; Nice, France; Skopje, Macedonia; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina; Libreville, Gabon; Douala, Cameroon; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Canberra, Australia; Medan, Indonesia; and Las Vegas, U.S.

The new daily flight to Auckland is served by a Boeing 777, which has a two-class configuration with 42 seats in Business Class and 217 seats in Economy Class.

It will also offer 116 tonnes of belly-hold capacity every week to support the growing imports of raw, industrial and consumer materials into New Zealand.

QATAR: Qatar Airways To Fly To New Destinations 2017

Qatar Airways earlier today announced eight more destinations for 2017-18, in addition to seven previously announced new cities for a total of 15 new gateways.

Joining the Qatar Airways’ route network, which spans more than 150 destinations on six continents around the world, will be Canberra, the airline’s fifth destination in Australia; Dublin, Ireland; Las Vegas, the airline’s 11th destination in the United States; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Medan, Kualanamu International Airport, the airline’s third destination in Indonesia; and Tabuk and Yanbu, the 9th and 10th destinations in Saudi Arabia.

These newly announced destinations join the already published list of new destinations to start in 2017: Auckland, New Zealand will start on 05th of February 2017 and will be the world’s longest commercial flight; Sarajevo, Bosnia; Skopje, Macedonia; Nice, France; Chiang Mai, the airline’s fourth destination in Thailand; Libreville, Gabon and Douala, Cameroon to add yet more African destinations to the airline's global network.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: 'Qatar Airways offers the world the best network, the best on board experience and the best connecting experience at Hamad International Airport. We operate the world’s youngest fleet, averaging just five years old, and we fly the most technologically advanced aircraft that provide our passengers with an award-winning experience while also ensuring the most efficient and environmentally friendly operations.

Our intention is to ensure our passengers can choose Qatar Airways for all of their travel needs – whether they are flying on business, for pleasure, or a combination of both. With today’s network announcement, we will be able to connect more people to more places than any other Gulf airline, and we will ensure our passengers will delight in the journey. At Qatar Airways, we are going places together with our passengers, and we look forward to welcoming these new destinations in 2017-18

Qatar Airways has opened 12 new destinations in 2016 so far, with two more cities set to join the network in December. The new cities added this year are Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles in the United States; Birmingham, U.K.; Helsinki, Finland; Pisa, the fourth destination in Italy; Yerevan, Armenia; Marrakech, the second destination in Morocco; Ras Al Khaimah, UAE; Windhoek, Namibia; and Sydney and Adelaide in Australia. Qatar Airways will begin service to Krabi, its third destination in Thailand on 06th of December and returns to the Seychelles on 12th of December with daily flights from Doha.

Travelers from East Africa can then enjoy travel on the award winning airline to yet more global destinations, in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Qatar Airways serves Entebbe and Kigali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar in East Africa and in the wider region also flies to Djibouti, Asmara and Addis Ababa.