While some of the consequences of the war are global, especially the price of jet fuel, most of the problems are particularly acute for Gulf countries. Depending on the nation, airspace remains closed or limited. Among endless other examples, Emirates has pulled the Airbus A380 from 15 routes, while flights on the huge 615-seat configuration have fallen by 62%.
All airlines in the region have been affected. For example, Qatar Airways has suspended passenger flights to 64 destinations until May or June. And depending on the war’s progress, it is possible that they could be pushed back again—or, perhaps less likely, even brought forward.
Qatar Airways’ Suspended Routes From Doha
The list of destinations was obtained by using information provided by Aeroroutes. Trying to make bookings for each place shows that most are not available until May or June. A breakdown of this is provided in the next section.
According to Cirium Diio data, the 64 airports accounted for a third of Qatar Airways’ network from Doha. But when departures are considered, they have 27% of the carrier’s flights. This reflects the lower frequencies on many of them.
Airspace closures continue to mean that the oneworld member simply can’t return to particular cities yet. And of those that it could fly to now, it has seemingly prioritized the return of significant markets. Indeed, as the three maps show, not many of them are highly notable in the airline’s vast network. Of course, there are multiple exceptions, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Kuwait.
Some places, like London Gatwick (which just welcomed its fifth new airline in 11 days) and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, have presumably not returned as flights to each city’s primary airport are already operational. Many ‘huge’ markets have already returned, albeit often at lower frequencies than before.
When Are They Due To Return?
The following table summarizes when each of the destinations is due to return. It is based on using the airline’s website and Google Flights to examine the next available flight. As things are highly likely to change again, treat it as a simple snapshot of the situation.
Note: only routes that are scheduled to return after mid-April, at the earliest, are included. This excludes several places, such as Birmingham, which are not mentioned below.
Notice Auckland. Like most of the following markets, flights from Doha are due to return in June. In Auckland’s case, Qatar Airways is scheduled to leave Doha for New Zealand’s most populous city on June 16. A Boeing 777-200LR will operate daily, just as it did before the war. It is singled out here because it is Qatar Airways’ longest route.
| Due To Return In… | Doha To… |
|---|---|
| Mid-April onward | Vienna |
| May | Abha, Ankara, Brisbane, Chengdu Tianfu, Chongqing, Goa Manohar, Hangzhou, Kinshasa, London Gatwick, Luanda, Madinah, Nice |
| June | Abu Dhabi, Adelaide, Alexandria, Almaty, Amman, Atlanta, Auckland, Baghdad, Bahrain, Baku, Basra, Beirut, Belgrade, Boston, Brussels, Canberra, Cebu, Davao, Djibouti, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Erbil, Gassim, Hamburg, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Kozhikode, Kuwait, Lisbon, Malta, Marrakech, Mogadishu, Nagpur, Najaf, Neom Bay, Osaka, Oslo, Port Harcourt, San Francisco, Sharjah, Sofia, Sulaymaniyah, Tubuk, Taif, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Tehran*, Venice, Yanbu, Yerevan, Zagreb, Zanzibar |