Qatar Airways to begin direct flights to Montreal in June, says CEO
Feb 2, 2011, 9:57 am
#1
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Yul
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Qatar Airways to begin direct flights to Montreal in June, says CEO
..MONTREAL - Qatar Airways plans to enter the Canadian market this summer by offering direct flights between Doha and Montreal, the head of the Middle Eastern airline said Wednesday.
The airline plans to offer three weekly round-trip flights on Boeing 777 aircraft as part of its aggressive global expansion, chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker told reporters in Brussels.
Qatar, which began offering flights to Belgium on Monday, plans to reach 120 major destinations by 2013. It currently flies to 95 destinations, with Houston, Washington and New York being its only North American stops.
The Montreal route flows out of an aviation agreement signed last October between Canada and Qatar that permits three passenger and three cargo flights per week into Canada.
The additional flights come as the United Arab Emirates has waged a public battle with Canada over its effort to increase its flights.
Ottawa's refusal to give more slots prompted the UAE to kick the Canadian military out of Camp Mirage, a key base in Dubai used to support the war in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Al Baker was noncommittal about a potential order for Bombardier's (TSX:BBD.B) CSeries.
"I do not want to comment on this. This is a sensitive issue," he told reporters.
Qatar failed to place an expected order at last summer's Farnborough Airshow over maintenance cost issues for the Pratt & Whitney engines.
..
The airline plans to offer three weekly round-trip flights on Boeing 777 aircraft as part of its aggressive global expansion, chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker told reporters in Brussels.
Qatar, which began offering flights to Belgium on Monday, plans to reach 120 major destinations by 2013. It currently flies to 95 destinations, with Houston, Washington and New York being its only North American stops.
The Montreal route flows out of an aviation agreement signed last October between Canada and Qatar that permits three passenger and three cargo flights per week into Canada.
The additional flights come as the United Arab Emirates has waged a public battle with Canada over its effort to increase its flights.
Ottawa's refusal to give more slots prompted the UAE to kick the Canadian military out of Camp Mirage, a key base in Dubai used to support the war in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Al Baker was noncommittal about a potential order for Bombardier's (TSX:BBD.B) CSeries.
"I do not want to comment on this. This is a sensitive issue," he told reporters.
Qatar failed to place an expected order at last summer's Farnborough Airshow over maintenance cost issues for the Pratt & Whitney engines.
..
Feb 2, 2011, 10:08 am
#3
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I just hope they offer pricing connecting through YUL that is competitive with their very aggressive prices when we currently connect out of IAD or NYC.
Makes me wonder if they are flying to YUL because the feds would not let them go to YYZ.
Makes me wonder if they are flying to YUL because the feds would not let them go to YYZ.
Feb 2, 2011, 12:47 pm
#6
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Feb 2, 2011, 1:08 pm
#7
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Originally Posted by The Lev
I just hope they offer pricing connecting through YUL that is competitive with their very aggressive prices when we currently connect out of IAD or NYC.
Makes me wonder if they are flying to YUL because the feds would not let them go to YYZ.
Makes me wonder if they are flying to YUL because the feds would not let them go to YYZ.
Feb 2, 2011, 1:17 pm
#8
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they wont fly long to YUL before they realize that was a mistake 
I wonder if YYZ has started to get time slots that are not available ? I know its difficult to get early morning time slots but I assume they would not want those times anyhow?
I wonder if YYZ has started to get time slots that are not available ? I know its difficult to get early morning time slots but I assume they would not want those times anyhow?
Feb 2, 2011, 1:33 pm
#10
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YUL is less threatening to AC.. and why not. YYZ can still connect with one stopover.. Besides, YYZ although is a leader for flights leaving around the world.. YYZ isn't the center of the universe
Feb 2, 2011, 1:36 pm
#11
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Feb 2, 2011, 1:38 pm
#12
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If "open point" means what I think it means, then I'm a bit surprised they didn't choose YYC. I would have thought that there would be more Qatar bound folks from there than YYZ or YUL. But maybe it's a bit far to fly for whatever aircraft they have to operate.
Yes it is.
Yes it is.
Feb 2, 2011, 1:49 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Posts: 2,454
For O/D traffic, a cnx at YUL is indeed pretty reasonable. For transit through DOH, that will make it a minimum of two stops from YYZ, and less attractive. But the argument made repeatedly in the "riled" thread was that there is a lot of O/D business potential between Canada and the UAE. This should give us some indication of that potential ...