Qatar Airways is to quit London Gatwick airport this summer. The airline’s last flight will be on 31st May 2011. Qatar Airways follows Etihad and Oman Air in quitting London’s second airport, leaving Emirates as the only major east-bound long-haul airline left.
Etihad and Oman Air have moved their operations to Heathrow, but Qatar Airways is using aircraft freed up by the closure of the Gatwick flights to expand at Manchester, where it will go double-daily from 1st June 2011. Qatar Airways said it was leaving Gatwick after seven years “due to commercial reasons”. The daily flights were popular with leisure travellers continuing on through Doha to destinations like Australia as they were generally cheaper than the airline’s Heathrow flights. However, the Gatwick flights failed to attract business travellers in sufficient numbers.