Award-winning Qatar Airways is responding to the increased demand for travel by scheduling five flights a week Auckland-Adelaide-Doha.
The new flights provide greater accessibility and connect New Zealand to the airline's 150 destinations around the world. They came into effect on July 1 and are a direct result of more demand and the airline's focus on the "strong growth area" of Australia and New Zealand.
It's only two months since Qatar Airways expanded its three-days-a-week Doha-Auckland services into Adelaide – and now that has been bumped up to five, giving Kiwis more choice when flying to Australia and South Australia.
Qatar Airways introduced the Adelaide-Auckland flight route in April, in line with the opening of New Zealand's borders. Earlier this year, the airline doubled its Brisbane service, now operating seven flights per week, as well as expanding its Perth service to include daily flights to and from Doha.
The airline originally began its services to Adelaide in 2016 — flying the first Airbus A350 into Australia. Now operated by a B777-300ER, the route flies from Doha to Adelaide and onwards to Auckland. With the addition of the two weekly flights, the carrier currently operates 38 weekly flights to Australia. The expansion will also improve accessibility to South Australia for New Zealanders.
The new schedule sees flights to Adelaide and Doha leave Auckland at 3.45pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at 6.20pm on Monday and Wednesday.
Qatar Airways Vice President of Sales for Southeast Asia, Southwest Pacific & Indian Subcontinent, Jared Lee says: "We are excited to increase flights to Adelaide, highlighting our ongoing commitment to the South Australian market. The Australia and New Zealand region continues to be an area of strong growth for Qatar Airways, and expanding this service will support the development of the economy and tourism sector in both countries.
"Not only do we continue to rebuild our network after the pandemic, but we are actively expanding it as travel restrictions ease. This is the latest in a series of enhancements to our Australian network this year, and we will no doubt continue to make upgrades as we expand our services further."
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says: "It was only two months ago when Qatar Airways expanded its flight schedule into South Australia, tagging its Doha-Auckland service through Adelaide. Already it is increasing these services to our once fourth-largest international market to meet strong demand.
"On top of this, we're seeing more domestic flights being scheduled than prior to the pandemic, helping drive hotel occupancy in our CBD to the highest of any major city across Australia and New Zealand. More flights mean more leisure and business visitors, increased freight capacity and greater connectivity for our state to the world, helping grow jobs and our economy."
Adelaide Airport Managing Director, Brenton Cox, says the service increase was great news for customers travelling between Adelaide and both Doha and Auckland: "We're excited to see further growth in our international network; the timing of this announcement couldn't be better with Australia qualifying for the FIFA World Cup later this year.
"Flights to Doha offer excellent connections to European destinations, while the onward services from Adelaide to Auckland are proving very popular. It's also great news for our local exporters seeking aviation freight links either to New Zealand or to Doha and on to major trading partners around the globe."
Lee says Qatar Airways has maintained its Australian routes throughout the pandemic, while launching services to Brisbane to provide essential global connectivity. It has carried over 330,000 passengers in and out of Australia since March 2020 via both commercial flights and special chartered services.
The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 150 destinations. Lee says with more frequencies being added to key hubs, Qatar Airways offers unrivalled connectivity to passengers, making it easy for them to connect to a destination of their choice.
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was announced as the 'Airline of the Year' at the 2021 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax.
It was also named 'World's Best Business Class', 'World's Best Business Class Airline Lounge', 'World's Best Business Class Airline Seat', 'World's Best Business Class Onboard Catering' and 'Best Airline in the Middle East'. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021).
Qatar Airways currently flies to more than 150 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport, voted by Skytrax as the 'World's Best Airport'. For more information: www.qatarairways.com/en-nz/offers