Qatar Airways

[Jerry]

The Economy Secretary Ken Skates has been in Qatar talking with businesses in Qatar with the aim of building links between Wales and the Qatar business community at a Welsh government event held in conjunction with the British Embassy.
Skates said: "The launch of daily direct flights between Doha and Cardiff next year, along with the direct flights already operated between Manchester and Doha which serve the North Wales economy, offers us huge opportunities to strengthen the relationship between our two countries.

"I am optimistic that this visit, along with the trade missions that have already taken place, will help us to build new trade links, increase export levels and attract more inward investment opportunities in Wales, and I look forward to businesses in both our countries working closely and productively together in the months and years ahead."
https://www.insidermedia.com/inside...ales_news_tracker&utm_medium=business_article

 

[Jerry]

Qatar Airways have been giving the Cardiff route a plug on their twitter account.
https://twitter.com/qatarairways/status/938384680046403584

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Qatar Airways have been giving the Cardiff route a plug on their twitter account.
https://twitter.com/qatarairways/status/938384680046403584

I notice the StopBristolAirportExpansion people are stirring again, congratulating Qatar on the right choice of airport. They'd be singing a different tune if they lived near CWL - they'd be wanting the airport closed, not attracting new airlines. They are championship-class nimbys.

 

[Jerry]

I notice the StopBristolAirportExpansion people are stirring again, congratulating Qatar on the right choice of airport. They'd be singing a different tune if they lived near CWL - they'd be wanting the airport closed, not attracting new airlines. They are championship-class nimbys.

Debra Barber did mention in an interview once that CWL was lucky in that they have no restrictions due to where they are and generally i believe the local people are supportive of the airport.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

Indeed the local people are on the whole very supportive of Cardiff Airport and the airport is very fortunate to be in that position.

It is Alun Cairns who isn't so supportive of the airport. Regardless what he says you cannot be supportive of Cardiff Airport then fail to back calls for the devolution of Air Passenger Duty.

 

[Jerry]

I think with Alun Cairns people have to realise he's a member of the UK government so can't publicly back devolution of APD unless the UK government was in favour of it. If he was just an ordinary MP then I think people could expect him to. He does seem well engaged with the Qatar business so I'd have expected him to have lobbied for it and maybe getting the tolls abolished on the Severn bridge was his way of trying to support the airport and the Qatar service.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The StopBristolAirportExpansion group was led by such organisations as Friends of the Earth and similar environmental groups although it was supported by some local people including some parish councils. Generally, the majority of people living in the region are supportive of the airport with straw polls in the local press at the time of the expansion planning application in 2010 consistently showing around 70% in support.

Interesting link below to a BBC report about the successful BRS planning application in 2010. See what Liam Fox - he who is blamed by many for Wales's failure to have APD devolved - says about the airport expansion. Do politicians ever run in a straight line?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8700056.stm

 

[Jerry]

Spotted 2 things on social media. The Qatar flights are being advertised at Temple Meads station in Bristol and Cardiff is in the inflight magazine as well.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Around this time of the year we start to think about visiting Australia in the next northern hemisphere autumn/early winter. Qatar is still not bookable from CWL after 26 October outbound according to test bookings I've made, 1555 ex CWL arriving DOH 0050. Perversely, inbound flights are still shown as bookable until 28 October, 0115 ex DOH arriving CWL 0540 on 28th October.

BHX and the other UK Qatar airports are bookable until 8 December which seems as far as the Qatar booking regime has currently reached. The good news in terms of competition is that neither Etihad nor Emirates has current booking availability beyond the first week in November.

Nevertheless, I noticed from another forum that someone has already booked to Madrid from BRS because the 2018 CWL-MAD service announcement was delayed. This sort of thing might happen with Qatar at CWL with early bookers if it's not sorted out very soon.

 

[Deleted member 8862]

What equipment is being proposed for the route?

Apologies if this has already been mentioned.

 

[Jerry]

What equipment is being proposed for the route?

Apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Boeing 787 8.

 

[Jerry]

Around this time of the year we start to think about visiting Australia in the next northern hemisphere autumn/early winter. Qatar is still not bookable from CWL after 26 October outbound according to test bookings I've made, 1555 ex CWL arriving DOH 0050. Perversely, inbound flights are still shown as bookable until 28 October, 0115 ex DOH arriving CWL 0540 on 28th October.

BHX and the other UK Qatar airports are bookable until 8 December which seems as far as the Qatar booking regime has currently reached. The good news in terms of competition is that neither Etihad nor Emirates has current booking availability beyond the first week in November.

Nevertheless, I noticed from another forum that someone has already booked to Madrid from BRS because the 2018 CWL-MAD service announcement was delayed. This sort of thing might happen with Qatar at CWL with early bookers if it's not sorted out very soon.

Yes that is the danger of leaving routes not on sale until sometime like December in that the early bookers will look elsewhere. For me with MAD i'm disappointed it's not been launched for Easter as well like last time as it would have been a possible contender for me when i go away then instead i'm looking at the North East now as i can also include visiting my sister.
I do hope Qatar release November soon especially as it being the start of the southern hemisphere summer many people like yourself may be looking to book to go see family down under. There is also the autumn internationals to take into account as many Australian, New Zealand and South African rugby fans will travel to Wales over that period and for the first time with the former 2 sets of fans they will have a 1 stop option to Wales.

 

[Jerry]

He's a link to Twitter to the advertising in Temple Meads station in Bristol.
https://twitter.com/FLY2Cardiff/status/941023675675004929

 

[TheLocalYokel]

He's a link to Twitter to the advertising in Temple Meads station in Bristol.
https://twitter.com/FLY2Cardiff/status/941023675675004929

That's the first CWL Qatar advert I've become aware of around Bristol and I'm out and about quite a lot.

That advert is on platform 3, judging from the picture, which is the first platform inside the entrance barriers and is used by such services as the northbound DB Cross Country route from the far South West to the Midlands, North and Scotland as well as the Taunton-Cardiff route and the Taunton-Bristol Parkway, so it will be visible to those coming up from stations to the south west of Bristol even if they don't leave the train at TM.

It's actually in a clever position because the majority of passengers departing and arriving at the station use a subway to reach or leave their train on the other platforms and the subway takes them to or from platform 3 to access the entrance/exit barriers. The advert is near the top of the subway stairs.

TM is a closed station so unless you are travelling you wouldn't see it, hence my ignorance of it until now as I've not used the station for a couple of months.

 

[Jerry]

The Qatar route to Doha has been mentioned in an article in the Telegraph.
Entitled Where you should fly in 2018: The 12 most exciting new routes. They are as follows.
1. Nashville from Heathrow with British Airways
2. Buenos Aires from Gatwick with Norwegian Airlines
3. Seattle from Manchester with Thomas Cook
4. Seychelles from Heathrow with British Airways
5. Lviv from Luton with Wizz Air
6. Doha from Cardiff with Qatar Airways
7. New York (Newark) from Stansted with Primera Air
8. Boston from Birmingham with Primer Air
9. La Rochelle from Leeds Bradford with Jet2
10. Genoa from Manchester with Easyjet
11. Amritsar from Birmingham with Air India
12. Rimini from Stansted with Ryanair
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/new-flight-routes-2018-holiday-destinations/

 

[Jerry]

Qatar Airways will be upgrading their Doha to Perth flight from a 777 300er to an A380 starting from 1st May 2018. So that means that anyone flying from Cardiff to Australia via Doha will be able to travel on an A380 to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
https://www.ausbt.com.au/qatar-airways-airbus-a380-to-fly-perth-doha-from-may-2018?utm_source=hero

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There is conjecture in another CWL thread that the longer airbridges that CWL has acquired may be used for Qatar to enable direct access from the departure area rather than along a pier first. I have no idea whether that would be a reason.

Whilst on the subject of what Qatar passengers might expect, what is the situation with the lounge for premium passengers? I believe that CWL currently has one executive lounge that I presume that Qatar will use for its premium passengers. Looking at the CWL website the lounge seems to offer snacks but there is nothing listed to suggest that hot and cold meals are available. Will the lounge be upgraded to provide such additional food, which is something that most airport lounges offer for airline premium passengers, even third party lounges?

Incidentally, the Qatar booking engine is still only showing flight booking availability from CWL to DOH until 26 October 2018. DOH-CWL is available until 28 October but this has been the case all along. LHR and BHX, for example, are bookable until the last week in December outbound and availability goes forward each day by one day so that flights are bookable a year in advance. Even here the booking availability for DOH-UK extends two days further than UK-DOH.

I use an iMac Desktop and I wonder if booking availability via a smart phone or app extends beyond 26 October. I remember there was a glitch with the BRS Ryanair booking engine several weeks ago whereby some flights were not shown on my iMac but were on someone's app.

Etihad and Emirates also move booking availability forward by one day each day and both are currently showing booking availability until the last week in November from the UK.

Any comments on the above would be appreciated.

 

[Jerry]

I've tweeted Qatar Airways asking what sort of lounge service will be provided for Business Class passengers. I'll post the reply if i get one.
As for the flights not being on sale from the 28th October 2018, i'm personally wondering if they may be waiting for Flybe to release their Paris CDG winter flights as Business Class passengers get the option of using Flybe and then connecting with Qatar's Paris CDG flights. I'm wondering if it's to give them more options and different flights times to suit their needs as it's not available for Economy.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've tweeted Qatar Airways asking what sort of lounge service will be provided for Business Class passengers. I'll post the reply if i get one.
As for the flights not being on sale from the 28th October 2018, i'm personally wondering if they may be waiting for Flybe to release their Paris CDG winter flights as Business Class passengers get the option of using Flybe and then connecting with Qatar's Paris CDG flights. I'm wondering if it's to give them more options and different flights times to suit their needs as it's not available for Economy.

Many thanks for that, Jerry.

 

[Coathanger16]

I've tweeted Qatar Airways asking what sort of lounge service will be provided for Business Class passengers. I'll post the reply if i get one.
As for the flights not being on sale from the 28th October 2018, i'm personally wondering if they may be waiting for Flybe to release their Paris CDG winter flights as Business Class passengers get the option of using Flybe and then connecting with Qatar's Paris CDG flights. I'm wondering if it's to give them more options and different flights times to suit their needs as it's not available for Economy.

I looked at Qatar's website just to check if it was possible to book past 28th October (it wasn't). At the same time I looked at booking Cardiff to Doha and the top option was direct, but there were also two flights via Paris with Flybe and that was for economy so I don't think it's just a business class thing.