Gulf airlines to lay on World Cup shuttle flights, says Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker told a news conference that United Arab Emirates airline flydubai, Oman Air, Kuwait Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) would run shuttle flights and that the UAE's Etihad and Air Arabia may also join the plan. "Like anywhere else, there has always been a shortage of accommodation, so we are not unique.


Reuters | Updated: 26-05-2022 17:26 IST | Created: 26-05-2022 16:58 IST
Gulf airlines to lay on World Cup shuttle flights, says Qatar Airways
Representative Image Image Credit: Wikipedia

Qatar Airways said on Thursday that fellow Gulf Arab airlines would operate more than 180 daily shuttle flights to Qatar during this year's soccer World Cup, allowing fans to fly in from nearby cities and easing accommodation pressure in Doha. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker told a news conference that United Arab Emirates airline flydubai, Oman Air, Kuwait Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) would run shuttle flights and that the UAE's Etihad and Air Arabia may also join the plan.

"Like anywhere else, there has always been a shortage of accommodation, so we are not unique. The biggest challenge for us is because everything is happening in one place," Baker said. He described November's World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East, as a "big cake" that will bring "huge economic benefit" that Doha aims to share with its Gulf neighbors.

Qatar hopes the tournament will attract roughly 1.2 million visitors, or almost half of the conservative country's population, posing a logistical and policing challenge. Games will be at eight stadiums around Doha, the only major city in Qatar, which is roughly the size of Jamaica and the smallest state to have hosted soccer's biggest event.

Flydubai will operate up to 60 daily flights from Dubai, the region's tourism hub, carrying up to 2,500 fans, Baker said, while Oman Air will run up to 48 daily flights from Muscat carrying up to 3,400 fans. Saudia said it would operate up to 60 daily flights carrying up to 10,000 passengers from Riyadh and Jeddah. Kuwait Airways will run up to 20 flights a day carrying up to 1,700 fans.

The shuttle service will help overseas fans avoid expensive lodgings in Qatar. Tournament organizers say they would offer up to 130,000 rooms, including hotels. The move could boost Qatar's ties with its neighbors following the resolution early last year of a political row that had seen Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt boycott Doha for over three years.

This is "a way to improve the relations with its neighbors," said Danyel Reiche, visiting professor at Georgetown and co-author of a book on Qatar's hosting of the World Cup. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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