Air India will introduce 20 additional flights per week to Qatar from major Indian cities to address the surge in passenger traffic expected around the FIFA World Cup 2022 that kicks off in November 2022. The additional flights will start on October 30, 2022, connecting the Indian metro cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai with Doha. Thirteen flights per week will operate from Mumbai, four from Hyderabad, and three from Chennai. These flights will be in addition to the existing daily flights to Doha from Delhi.
Air India is also working on the return to service of its grounded aircraft and has been launching new flights as the aircraft becomes available. Last month, Air India launched 24 new flights on its domestic network.
Commenting on the introduction of new flights for Qatar, Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “Bringing in the football extravaganza in this part of the world, Air India aims to provide strong connectivity between India and Qatar. Football fans across India are excited to be in stadiums in Qatar where the world’s best football talent will be competing with each other."
“Our flight schedule has been planned to make the entire travel experience convenient and seamless. Over the past few months, we have been working closely with our partners to return aircraft to service which has resulted in these additional flights. Air India hopes to continue to provide world-class flying experience for landmark sporting events in the future as well," he further added
The FIFA World Cup is expected to increase air travel to Qatar and airlines across the world are looking forward to tap this surge in demand.