Qatar Airways launches daily flights to Atlanta from Doha

Middle East’s fastest-growing carrier Qatar Airways recently launched its daily flights to Atlanta from its main hub Doha. The new service started operating from June 1, 2016. The move by Qatar’s national carrier is being seen as an attempt to provocate rival Delta Air Lines further.

With the launch of service, Atlanta will now become Qatar Airways’ 10th destination in the United States, and would become a part of the airline’s international network of 150 destinations. Atlanta will be also the airline’s 3rd new destination in the U.S. to be launched in 2016. The airline had earlier this year launched flights to Los Angeles in January and also to Boston in March. Moreover, the capacity on the New York JFK-Doha route has been doubled in April this year, with the launch of a second daily flight. Qatar Airways will now be offering a total of 5,000 seats on a daily basis between the United States and Qatar.

Media reports said that the launch of new flights to Atlanta by Qatar Airways also signals the continued expansion into the U.S. market by Middle East carriers, despite heated opposition and acrimonious faceoff from the three largest U.S. carriers – American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. There have been accusations by U.S. carriers that the massive foray by Middle East carriers is giving them tough times and eating into their revenues with steep decline in international bookings for them.

Among the leading Middle East carriers serving the United States include Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways. According to a study, Qatar Airways is much faster increasing its presence in North American markets. Dubai-based Emirates Airline is currently offering flights services to 11 cities in the United States. The airline is also into codeshare partnership with Alaska Airlines. Emirates Airline had last year accounted for 14 percent of its revenues with its Americas operations. UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways is also providing flights services to six destinations in the United States from Abu Dhabi International Airport.