Qatar Airways is to open its first Canadian route, with a service to Montreal which will launch towards the end of June.
The airline's debut comes at a time of tension between the Canadian Government and Qatar Airways' Gulf rival Emirates, which has been battling for greater access to Canadian routes.
Qatar Airways is to open services between Doha and Montreal on 29 June, serving the city three times per week.
It will deploy Boeing 777-200LR twinjets on the route, configured with 42 business-class and 217 economy-class seats.
"Montreal is one of the most sought after destinations in the world and we hope to have paved the way for expanded capacity into Canada and operate to additional cities in the future," says Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker.
The new rights, granted last year after a series of bilateral talks, is a thorny reminder to Emirates of its own 12-year effort to persuade Canadian authorities, via intergovernmental talks, to allow additional flights from the United Arab Emirates.
Emirates operates only to Toronto, a service which uses its entire permitted allocation of just three flights per week to Canada, and it has pressed for a "modest" increase, indicating that it would like to increase frequency to Toronto and open flights to Vancouver and Calgary.
Dubai-based Emirates insists that it poses no threat to Air Canada and that any suggestions Star Alliance - with which Emirates has engaged in a long-running public spat - would be badly hit by its plans "lack credibility".
Toronto is also served by the UAE's Etihad Airways which operates three times per week to the city from Abu Dhabi.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
