andymcdonnell

Sorry if this has been mentioned already. I was looking at flights to DOH for Jan next year and it appears BA have dropped it from LHR, just the QR flights with a BA codeshare are available. Conversely, LGW-DOH seems to have been dropped by QR but there is a BA flight

sammyg901

It's a curious one, nearly all the traffic will be connecting onwards and QR doesn't have PE so the large WT+ cabin on the LGW fleet won't be easy to sell. Could be a good one for upgrades if you are booking a Y ticket via Doha!

danboy767

I have me eye on Doha for a post lockdown trip to the sun, this is interesting as I couldn’t find it from LHR and on looking the route is flying in May 2020.
That said this could still be cancelled depending on how long this Covid madness lasts

jerry a. laska

There has been some discussion in the Covid-19 routes and the LGW threads (the DOH discussion in the LGW thread was sort of hidden within the ACC discussion a couple of weeks ago). Here are a couple of posts leading to some of the discussion:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32824448-post153.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32997463-post883.html

sjoh1271

And will they actually fly it or leave it up to QR?

mikeyfly

Was discussed here recently...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...g-lgw-doh.html

And plenty of chat in these two BA at Gatwick 2021 & COVID-19 BA Suspended Routes, Changes in The BA Network, Speculation & Discussion

Confus

I’m led to believe that the JB with QR includes provision for joint operation. So on that basis, yes I expect they will.

wingzing

I am scheduled to fly LGW-DOH on November 1. Both BA (777) and QR (787) have scheduled departures at exactly the same time, 2:05 pm. I expect that one or the other will be withdrawn.

FWIW, Both are offered as codeshares with the other. The 777 has the old CW seats so I suspect most travelers will chose QR.

Dave Noble

Im impressed at BA's logistical prowess at moving Doha airport to Gatwick

Blumie

A majority of passengers will be booked in Y or PE and thus will be indifferent to what type of seats are in J.

13901

The one reading I could give to this is:
Qatar used (uses?) to fly to/from LGW. This means that they need some sort of arrangements there: line maintenance (in-house or contracted), handling, catering, hotels, perhaps a station manager and a couple of duty managers... all while doing the same over at Heathrow. Maybe it makes sense for BA to cover that flight and for QR to concentrate on Heathrow, a bit like it was done with Iberia where IB took care of the first rotations out of MAD and BA the same with LHR, thus eliminating the need for night stoppers.

While can't be said that QR cares that much about costs (one of the many reasons I don't like that airline) maybe the winds are changing, the Emir might be growing tired of having to write a cheque ever year and this is the sort of avoidable expense that benefits everyone.

sjoh1271

I am also flying in November in J on the QR flight so hope they cancel the BA and not the QR. What worries me is QR have another flight in the morning so probably makes more sense to cancel the flight I am on so BA and QR end up with 1 flight a day each. Wonder if this is the plan all along given exactly same departure time...

Schwann

If they cancelled your flight you would be entitled to rebook from Heathrow if you so wanted. So you have no reason to be worried about being forced to fly BA from LGW.

Dover2Golf

I can't imagine QR are in the least bit interested in BA's departure time. The only function BA seem to have with them is to force you into accepting a BA sector on an ultra cheap business ticket to downgrade your experience.

sjoh1271

hmmm that doesn’t bode well given I’m on an ultra cheap BA ticket codeshared on QR...