Qatar announces Canberra to Doha route for 2017-18
International flight options from Canberra are about to open up.
Canberrans who are excited to see the world but much less excited by the multi-stop legs many international destinations require are about to receive a welcome surprise. Doha's flagship carrier Qatar Airways has announced it will be adding eight new destinations onto its route map in 2017-18 - and yes, Canberra is one of them.
Other destinations that will be included in Qatar's already extensive network in 2017-18 include: Dublin, Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Medan, Tabuk and Yanbu.
Expected to commence sometime between July 2017 and June 2018, this new route is tipped to be a direct flight and is expected to run as a late afternoon or evening departure from Canberra due to the airport's "no curfew" advantage. No details have been announced yet regarding flight costs, but Canberrans are sure to be cheering as this will mean they'll no longer have to transfer through another Australian city such as Sydney or Melbourne to fly to international destinations.
This service will make Qatar only one of two airlines to offer international flights from Canberra. The first was Singapore Airlines, which launched services from Canberra to Wellington and Singapore in September this year.
While Singapore did pip Qatar to the post on this one, the Asian carrier's direct network is mainly confined to Asia and Oceania. Qatar's will connect Canberra to many European and Middle Eastern as well as some African, American and Asian locations.
Some cities in Qatar's network that you won't find in Singapore's include: Oslo, Helsinki, Ankara, Baku, Al Najaf, Tbilisi, Birmingham, Budapest, Brussels, Edinburgh, Athens, Casablanca, Alexandra, Lagos, Cairo, Durban, Sao Paolo, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and Atlanta.
With Qatar's extensive network of European and Middle Eastern destinations and Singapore's network of Asian and Oceania destinations, Canberra is quickly looking to become a hub of activity for international flyers.
