Qatar Airways will continue to rebuild its U.S. network next month, with flights scheduled to start from both Houston and Philadelphia.
The carrier plans to add three weekly flights between Houston and Doha on Sept. 2, followed by four weekly flights between Philadelphia and Doha beginning Sept. 15, on Airbus 350-1000 aircraft. That will bring Qatar's service to eight of the 10 American gateways it operated prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, with only Atlanta and Miami remaining offline, said Eric Odone, who recently was promoted to Qatar Airways' SVP of its Western region, covering the Americas, Europe and Africa.
Last week, Qatar Airways also increased its Doha service from Los Angeles to daily, and it will bump up service from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to twice daily on Sept. 1. In all, it will be operating 56 weekly flights from its U.S. network by mid-September, from which it also connects via its partnerships with JetBlue and American Airlines.
As Qatar—which says it currently is the largest international carrier operating in the United States—grows its network, it is seeing "some business demand," though it still is seeing a lot of demand from repatriation efforts, Odone said. Forward bookings into next year for people planning vacations to Bali or Africa also have been picking up, he said.
As corporate travel returns, Odone said Qatar's more aggressive approach in growing its U.S. network compared with some international competitors could help it win some new corporate business. Even so, the carrier does not plan to "operate flights just for the sake of it" and will adjust its network as profitability dictates, Odone said.
"Fortunately, in the Americas, we have not had to do that," Odone said "We've been very attentive to making sure we publish a reliable schedule in the [global distribution systems]."
Qatar's cargo business also is helping its balance sheet as it rebuilds its network, he said.