Qatar Airways announced Monday that it would launch new flights to Los Angeles, Boston, and Atlanta, a decision that is probably not making its American competitors happy. The new routes will be nonstop and will operate daily from Doha. Additionally, the airline will add a second daily flight to its New York route.
Qatar Airways' daily flights to Los Angeles will begin on Jan. 1, 2016 with the daily flights to Boston kicking off in March, along with the additional flight to New York. The route to Atlanta will start July of next year.
Earlier this year, U.S. carriers – Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines – jointly accused the big Gulf carriers – Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, and Emirates – of having received some $42 billion in unfair subsidies from their respective governments over the past decade. In March, the U.S. carriers jointly released a 55-page document outlining their claims, which included interest-free loans, free land and reduced airport costs.
The U.S. government decided to wade into the dispute last month stating, "The U.S. government takes seriously the concerns raised in the report and is interested in receiving insights and feedback from stakeholders before any decisions are made regarding what action, if any, should be taken.”
All three of the U.S airlines have struggled financially since the early 2000s, with each having gone through bankruptcy starting with United in 2002, then Delta in 2005 and most recently American in 2011. The airline industry was also bailed out by the U.S. government after September 11, 2001, with the federal government providing $5 billion in cash payments, insurance guarantees, liability protection and a $10 billion loan-guarantee program that ended in 2006.
The accusations don't seem to have deterred Qatar Airways' expansion plans at all, especially with the most recent announcement from the carrier.
"As Qatar Airways continues its global expansion, we are delighted to be offering even more gateways in the United States, connecting passengers from destinations across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Southeast Asia.
"We look forward to offering a great travel experience to our US passengers on the World's Best Business Class across our network of more than 140 destinations, with a convenient one-stop transfer at the new state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport in Doha,” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a press release .
From Baker's statement, it appears that more than simply providing additional flight options to Qatar residents, the airline is directly targeting transit passengers who would likely otherwise search for flights on other carriers. This isn't good news to the already struggling and concerned U.S. carriers.
However, with Qatar Airways and its Gulf allies constantly ranked as some of the best airlines in the world while simultaneously providing prices competitive with Western rivals, we're just thankful for the better alternatives.
In particular, Qatar Airways was named as the World's Best Airline in 2011 and 2012 by Skytrax World Airline Awards, coming in second place last year as well.
Better service and more options? Sounds good to us.