Qatar Airways resumes flights to Cairo
* National carrier touches down in Egyptian capital for first time since 2017
* Airline to operate daily flights to Cairo with Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Qatar Airways on Monday resumed flights to Cairo with a daily service, touching down in the Egyptian capital for the first time since 2017.
QR1301 departed Hamad International Airport for Cairo International Airport at 3.15pm local time and landed at its destination at 5.40pm local time. The flight was operated by Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Qatar Airways will resume flights to Alexandria on Monday, January 25. QR1317 will depart from Doha at 3.15pm and land in Alexandria at 5.50pm.
Qatar Airways passengers travelling from Egypt can now enjoy seamless connectivity to over 110 global destinations via its state-of-the-art hub, Hamad International Airport, the airline has said in a statement.
The national carrier of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 110 destinations with plans to increase to over 130 by the end of March.
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ at the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.
Egypt, UAE resume first Qatar flights since 2017
The first direct flights since 2017 between Qatar and two Arab countries - Egypt and the UAE - took to the skies on Monday following the end of a regional crisis.
Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain agreed to heal the rift with Qatar at the Gulf Summit earlier this month, leading to the reopening of airspace and borders.
The first commercial flight from Qatar to Egypt in three and a half years, an EgyptAir service to Cairo, took off from the windswept Hamad International Airport (HIA) in Doha, AFP reported. The flight arrived in Doha at 12.35pm and departed around 2.10pm, according to information available on the HIA website.
This was followed by a Qatar Airways flight leaving for Cairo around 3.15pm.
Then, an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the UAE landed at HIA around 4.10pm, before starting its return journey around 5.10pm.
The resumption of flights from Doha to Cairo will simplify travel for the large contingent of Egyptians living in Qatar, according to the AFP report.
Mustafa Ahmed, 38, an Egyptian technical engineer, said he was "very happy".
"With direct flights, life will be easier, especially for families and children, avoiding the torment of changing airports and planes and waiting for hours for transit flights," he told AFP.
Flights between Doha and Saudi Arabia, which has also opened its land border to Qatar, resumed on January 11.