Qatar Airways is to launch flights to San Francisco this December, adding the west coast city to its US network for the first time.
The Gulf carrier is already flying eight of the 10 US destinations it served prior to the pandemic. San Francisco will become Qatar’s ninth destination, when the service launches on 15 December.
Qatar will deploy a two-class configured Airbus A350-900 on the route four times weekly.
It marks the fifth new route announced by the airline since the pandemic began. In September, flights to Accra in Ghana via Lagos joined Cebu, Brisbane and Toronto as new points in the airline’s network.
Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker says: ”As we navigate the crisis, we have made it a priority to not only reinstate our existing destinations and be the airline travellers can rely on, but to also grow our network and increase connectivity with new and relevant destinations for our customers to enjoy.
“As the gateway to Silicon Valley and the vibrant tech economy, the San Francisco Bay Area is a globally important destination, both from a business and leisure perspective.”
Qatar Airways continued to operate flights to Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth during the crisis, as it remained an active operator of charter and repatriation flights.The airline has since restored passenger flights to Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles.
It previously also served Atlanta and Miami in the USA prior to the pandemic. Cirium schedules data indicates it is set to restore Miami flights in December.
Notably Qatar Airways also re-established its codeshare with Oneworld partner American Airlines in February this year, after a two-year break amid a wider row between US and Gulf carriers.
