Air Canada Launches Doha Flights - Air Canada & Qatar Airways Announce Codeshare

Real World Aviation
#1

Air Canada is planning to launch flights to Doha, Qatar

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Air Canada has an extensive route network with a variety of unique destinations that no other North American airlines fly to, such as Algiers, Warsaw, Bucharest, Vienna, Dubai, and more

Air Canada is now introducing a new international destination that no other North American airlines fly to: Doha, Qatar.

Air Canada will launch nonstop flights from Toronto (YYZ) to Doha (DOH):

  • This route will begin on December 15, 2020
  • Air Canada will use the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
  • Flights will operate three times a week departing Toronto on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
  • The route is currently subject to government approval.

Schedule:

  • AC58 - Depart Toronto at 8:10 PM and arrive in Doha at 4:40 PM the next day
  • AC59 - Depart Doha at 8:40 AM and arrive in Toronto at 3:30 PM

This means Air Canada’s 787-9 Dreamliner will remain parked in Doha for 16 hours. Considering systemwide capacity is likely to remain low, I guess Air Canada doesn’t need to maximize the aircraft’s usage?

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Toronto to Doha is approximately 6,772 miles or 10,898 kilometers with a block time of 12 hours and 45 minutes

It’s worth noting Qatar Airways briefly launched Doha to Toronto flights during the summer with the support of the Canadian government to repatriate its citizens.

Update 11/18/20: Qatar Airways & Air Canada launch codeshare

Air Canada and Qatar Airways are commencing a codeshare in anticipation of Air Canada’s Doha service.

Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker:

“We are delighted to secure this strategic codeshare agreement with Air Canada to provide our travellers with a seamless journey to and from Toronto with excellence in state-of-the-art and sustainable aircraft, safety, comfort and onboard service. The agreement will increase choices for thousands of passengers and allows for smooth connectivity to a significant number of new destinations – particularly throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. By harnessing our complementary strengths, this agreement will also provide benefits to aid the recovery of international travel.”

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2020/November/ACQR.html?activeTag=Press-releases

Sources/Image Credits

Sources:
https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/294565/air-canada-adds-toronto-doha-service-from-mid-dec-2020/
https://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/292187/route-analysis-bud-icn-doh-yyz-bru-mru/

Image: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8829461
Additional images from gcmap.com and Air Canada’s website.

What are your thoughts on Air Canada’s new flight to Doha?

23 Likes
#2

@ItsBlitz ^^^^
@CR3W
@Pingu

2 Likes
#3

Is this the first North American airline to ever fly to Qatar?

#4

I was about to ask this. For how much they complain about the middle eastern carriers there seems to be a lot more codeshares than competition đŸ€­

#5

Gotta try this out.

#6

Om really!!! đŸ„°
now i can fly Qatar to asia!!1

#7

Wow that’s cheap. Didn’t know that no other North American airline flew to Qatar!

#8

Does this mean that only one person stopped in Doha I take it? Or that only on average one flew it by connecting before the flight existed? đŸ€”

1 Like
#9

Second after United ended Doha flights in 2014

353 people in 2019 that originated in Toronto and stopped in Doha or the other way around. They had to connect through somewhere but their trip either started in Doha or Toronto and ended in the other city.

3 Likes
#10

From Dulles even, how did I not know this before lol

1 Like
#11

Toronto
 to Doha


wHA T

1 Like
#12

Nice 👍 New Routes with Air Canada Virtual 😉

1 Like
#13

Informative and beautifully formatted and constructed. Good job on this post :)

2 Likes
#14

Wow!

That’s an amazing route!

1 Like
#15

Very unexpected development. Qatar is a OneWorld carrier, Doha is a big hub and as you wrote point-to-point doesn’t seem to make sense. Can’t really see the reasoning behind it yet, but probably there is demand from citizens (as there was a demand for repatriation flight)?

Very interesting route for sure. Thanks for sharing the news!

Absolutely, yes. Also some routes can be well worth it, if the timing can be optimised this way (e.g. LHR-SIN-SYD) back last year, where the BA B777 stayed in Sydney for hours as well.

1 Like
#16

Wow! Wasn’t expecting that, it should be interesting to see the demand on the route.

1 Like
#17

Just realized what I put was stupid lol. Fixed it, thanks.

Thanks!

1 Like
#18

Ya it makes a lot more sense now 😂

1 Like
#19

Air Canada and Qatar Airways are commencing a codeshare in anticipation of Air Canada’s Doha service.

Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker:

“We are delighted to secure this strategic codeshare agreement with Air Canada to provide our travellers with a seamless journey to and from Toronto with excellence in state-of-the-art and sustainable aircraft, safety, comfort and onboard service. The agreement will increase choices for thousands of passengers and allows for smooth connectivity to a significant number of new destinations – particularly throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. By harnessing our complementary strengths, this agreement will also provide benefits to aid the recovery of international travel.”

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2020/November/ACQR.html?activeTag=Press-releases

And correction on some previous information:

The O&D demand for YYZ-DOH wasn’t 50, it’s over 14,000 which makes a lot more sense:

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1 Like
#20

The initial O&D seemed surprisingly low. I’d imagine there are tons of Qatari students/immigrants in Canada, while there are also many Canadians living in Doha as well.

Though, the most surprising thing is seeing Air Canada code sharing with QR of all airlines. Well, let’s see how it’ll go.

1 Like