Qatar Airways is preparing to resume non-stop flights between its hub in Doha and Auckland, New Zealand, after a pandemic-induced gap of more than three years.
The 9,033-mile flight will take nearly 16 hours from Doha to Auckland, while passengers on the return flight will have to endure more than 17 hours aboard one of the airline’s Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
When it first launched in 2017, the Doha to Auckland service was the longest flight in the world, and although it remains Qatar Airways’s longest route, on a global scale, it is now only the third longest in the world.
Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, confirmed on Tuesday that a daily non-stop service would resume on September 1, 2023.
“The direct Doha to Auckland service augments a number of new routes announced in recent weeks and enables passengers in key European markets including the UK and Ireland to save time with this direct connection,” Al Baker commented.
The eastbound flight from Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL) will operate as flight QR920 and will depart at 01:50 hrs and arrive at 02:45 hrs (+1) local time.
The return westbound flight from Auckland (AKL) to Doha (DOH) will operate as flight QR921, departing at 15:00 hrs and arriving in Qatar at 23:15 hrs local time.
An Airbus A350-1000 will be used to operate the route with 46 QSuite Business Class seats and 281 Economy Class seats. Qatar Airways still has no plans to introduce a Premium Economy cabin on any of its aircraft.
Until the non-stop flight resumes in September, Qatar Airways will continue to operate a ‘shuttle’ service between Adelaide, Australia and New Zealand.
