Qatar Airways Relaunches Doha-Lisbon Direct Flights

Qatar Airways has resumed flights to the Westernmost European point in its network, Lisbon. The resumed route will have six weekly flights during the summer and will be reduced during the rest of the year.

Back in Lisbon

Qatar Airways is a massive global airline, flying to more than 170 destinations with 200+ aircraft. Using Hamad International Airport in Doha as its base, the airline carried almost 32 million passengers in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, helped by the FIFA World Cup which took place in December. Though the airline has bounced back well from the pandemic, its network has not been fully restored.

Flights to Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport were first launched in June 2019, but the route had been put on pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When Qatar announced the route’s resumption in February, Simple Flying reported that flights would be operated four times weekly, but that has changed. LIS-DOH will operate year-round but during the summer, the airline will deploy its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners six times weekly on the 3,618-mile route.

Photo: Jaromir Chalabala | Shutterstock

Qatar resumed operations on the route last week, on June 6. One peculiar note about the route is that it does not operate on a regular schedule, with the departure changing almost every day. For example, today’s departure from Doha is scheduled for 08:25, while tomorrow’s flight will depart at 00:55 and at 07:30 on Wednesday. Of course, the same goes for the return legs. The one constant is that the aircraft type is the same.

“As we continue our network expansion in the European market, we are thrilled to welcome back Lisbon to our global network of more than 170 destinations. This addition reaffirms the airline’s dedication to connecting people and places, making international travel more accessible and convenient across our global network.” – Thierry Antinori, Chief Commercial Officer, Qatar Airways

According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, Qatar Airways has 42 roundtrip flights scheduled between Lisbon and Doha this month, offering 10,668 seats on the route. Next month, that number increases slightly to 54 flights and 13,716 seats. By October, flights will drop to five times weekly, and by December, four.

Additional European operations

In December, Qatar Airways unveiled its summer schedule for this year, and announced it was returning to Venice this month and launching flights to Hamburg in July. Flights to both destinations will operate daily, with flight times to Hamburg alternating on certain days, while flights to Venice will be on one set schedule.

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Data shows that in July, Qatar has 5,208 roundtrip flights to Europe, offering more than 1.4 million seats. It should not come as a surprise that the airline’s busiest European route is to Heathrow Airport in London.

London is one of the most well-connected airports in the world, and in July, the airline will fly there up to eight times daily. There, passengers can connect anywhere on British Airways’ network as the two are part of the oneworld alliance. Additionally, passengers can connect to the United States on American Airlines, although Qatar does serve plenty of American destinations.