Qatar Airways plans to add 138 aircraft to its fleet over five years
Qatari airline Qatar Airways plans to add 138 new aircraft to its fleet over the next five years and expand its route network in the winter season. Qatar Airways Group CEO Hamad Ali Al-Khater said that the carrier’s passenger traffic has recovered to approximately 90–95% of last year’s level. Hamad International Airport in Doha currently serves more than 140,000 passengers per day.
Euronews reports on the carrier’s plans and its operations after regional disruptions. According to Al-Khater, Qatar Airways is expected to receive new long-haul aircraft with a different cabin configuration by the end of the year. They are intended to enable flights to destinations inaccessible to the existing narrow-body aircraft, including secondary airports that were previously difficult to serve economically.
Winter schedule
In the 2026–2027 winter season, Qatar Airways plans to expand its global network to more than 170 destinations. The company announced 186 weekly flights to countries in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
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From 25 October, the carrier plans to increase the number of flights between Doha and London Heathrow Airport from 49 to 56 per week. From 7 December, the frequency of flights to Frankfurt is expected to rise from 18 to 21 flights per week. Earlier, Qatar Airways increased the frequency of flights to Helsinki from four per week in July to seven in August, and also launched routes to Bogotá and Caracas in July.
New cabins and Starlink
The airline plans to introduce a new generation of Qsuite business-class cabins in summer 2027. Qatar Airways is also continuing to install Starlink satellite connectivity: in August, it became the first carrier to operate a Boeing 787-9 with this equipment. In total, 150 of the company’s wide-body aircraft are equipped with Starlink, accounting for 83% of the planned total.
After the national airspace was closed on 28 February, a passenger support centre was activated at the airport. At that time, 8,000 passengers were stranded in Doha, while another 8,400 were in various points across the carrier’s route network. Due to restrictions on flights to the north, Qatar Airways also rerouted some flights farther south.
