Qatar Airways have announced its readiness to operate three weekly flights from Abuja, Nigeria via Lagos.  This is becoming the sixth new destination announced by the national carrier of the State of Qatar since the start of the pandemic. The Abuja service will be operated by the airline’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class.

Qatar Airways Vice-President, Africa, Mr. Hendrik Du Preez said: “We are excited to land in the capital of Nigeria today, our second destination in Nigeria. I am proud to say Abuja is the sixth new destination we have launched since the start of the pandemic. With the strong Nigerian diaspora in Europe, U.S. and the UK, we are thrilled to now be flying three times weekly to Abuja via Lagos. We look forward to working closely with our partners in Nigeria to steadily grow this route and support the recovery of tourism and trade in the region.”

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Managing Director, Capt. Rabiu H. Yadudu in response said: “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is very pleased to welcome to Abuja Qatar Airways , one of the Best and most Efficient Airlines in the World.This is another important milestone in our mutual   Service delivery to the nation, especially during these challenging times.  We assure you of our consistent  support and cooperation that will add more value to your Operations.”

With flights to more than 85 destinations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, passengers wanting to travel to or from Nigeria can now enjoy seamless connectivity via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport. By mid-December, Qatar Airways will operate over 65 weekly flights to 20 destinations in Africa, including Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Durban, Entebbe, Johannesburg, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Lagos, Luanda, Maputo, Mogadishu, Nairobi, Seychelles, Tunis, and Zanzibar.

In line with the airline’s expanding operations across Africa, passengers can look forward to a touch of African hospitality onboard with the carrier’s multicultural cabin crew including more than 30 African nationalities. Additionally, passengers across our network can also enjoy a variety of African movies, TV shows and music on Oryx One, Qatar Airways’ in-flight entertainment system.

Qatar Airways travellers from Africa can now enjoy new baggage allowances ranging from 46 Kg for Economy Class split over two pieces and 64 Kg split over two pieces in Business Class. This initiative is designed to offer passengers more flexibility and comfort when travelling on board Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways’ strategic investment in a variety of fuel-efficient, twin-engine aircraft, including the largest fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft, has enabled it to continue flying throughout this crisis and perfectly positions it to lead the sustainable recovery of international travel. The airline recently took delivery of three new state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, increasing its total A350 fleet to 52 with an average age of just 2.6 years. Due to COVID-19’s impact on travel demand, the airline has grounded its fleet of Airbus A380s as it is not environmentally justifiable to operate such a large four-engine aircraft in the current market. Qatar Airways has also recently launched a new programme that enables passengers to voluntarily offset the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. The Qsuite seat layout is a 1-2-1 configuration, providing passengers with the most spacious, fully private, comfortable and social distanced Business Class product in the sky. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted ‘Skytrax Airline of the Year’ title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times. HIA was recently ranked ‘Third Best Airport in the World’, among 550 airports worldwide, by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2020.