The competition for Middle Eastern air travelers heats up Tuesday when a second carrier from that part of the world launches service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Qatar Airways will offer a daily round trip between D/FW Airport and its Doha, Qatar, hub. It is flying a Boeing 777-200 with 42 seats in business class and 217 in coach.
Qatar joins Emirates Airline, which offered the first Middle East flights with daily service to Dubai beginning in February 2012. On Dec. 3, Etihad Airways will join its two regional competitors when it begins its own D/FW service to Abu Dhabi.
All three competitors are using or plan to use the 777-200 aircraft to serve the D/FW market, with 259 seats on Qatar, 266 seats on Emirates and 237 on Etihad. However, Emirates will upgrade its service on Oct. 1 to the Airbus A380 and its 489 seats.
That means by year end, Emirates will be flying 3,423 seats each direction every week, with 1,813 available on Qatar and 711 on Etihad. That’s a total of 5,947 seats each direction to and from the three Middle East hubs, compared with Emirate’s 1,862 weekly seats prior to Qatar’s arrival.
D/FW Airport will be Qatar Airways’ seventh U.S. destination and second in Texas. It has served Houston since 2009.
Qatar is a member of the Oneworld global airline alliance headed by American Airlines Inc. and British Airways Plc.
Follow Terry Maxon on Twitter at @tmaxon.
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