The first of Qatar Airways’ daily flights between Doha and Dublin has landed at Dublin Airport, inaugurating its connection between the Irish capital and the Qatari hub connecting with dozens of onward flights to the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
For the inaugural occasion, the airline flew its next-generation Airbus A350 aircraft to Ireland, giving VIP guests and invited media representatives the opportunity to tour the plane. This was the first time a passenger Airbus A350 aircraft has landed on Irish soil.
Qatar Airways will usually operate the daily service with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has a two-class configuration including 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy.
Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Bakar said: “The launch of our new service to Dublin is an important milestone for Qatar Airways. The new service will connect the Irish people with more destinations globally and provide them the opportunity to experience our five-star service. We look forward to welcoming our new passengers on board and to connecting them to Doha and beyond.”
The connection is not affected by the blockade of Qatar imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The airline said that it “continues to operate to the rest of its network as per its published schedules with day-to-day adjustments for operational and commercial efficiencies”. However, senior vice president Europe Jonathan Harding added that the blockade had resulted in longer trip times from Doha to some destinations because of restricted air space in neighbouring countries. "There are a handful of routes where there are restrictions in place, otherwise it’s business as usual,” he stated
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Harding said the new route would connect Irish people to more than 150 locations around the world, and that its initial return fares from Dublin to Bangkok and Perth would start from €500 and €987.
The flights will also provide Qatar Airways Cargo customers 80 tonnes of belly-hold capacity each week. Temperature-controlled products are catered for through its specialist solutions QR Pharma, for pharmaceuticals, and QR Fresh, for perishables. Temperature-sensitive products are handled at a fully automated hub in Doha, compliant with both IATA Chapter 17 standards.
Qatar Airways employs 43,000 people and has expanded significantly in recent years, adding more than a dozen new routes and buying more aircraft to increase its fleet to 196 planes. The airline has a deal with Boeing to buy up to 100 more Dreamliner 787s, 777-300ERs and B737 MAX 8 aircraft over the next few years.
