Qatar Airways launches Doha-Cebu today

Aviation Updates Philippines – After a series of setbacks, 2019 World’s Best Airline Qatar Airways is now pushing through with its planned inaugural resumption of services between Doha, Qatar and Cebu, Philippines on Friday, July 24, 2020.

Cebu becomes part of Qatar Airways’ newly launched destinations in the past few months: Brisbane, Australia and Toronto, Canada. This shows the airline’s resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to expand its worldwide reach.

“We are delighted to be launching a new direct service to Cebu, offering our passengers another gateway into the Philippines. Being the airline that has never stopped flying since COVID-19 hit, it has been Qatar Airways’ mission to take people home safely during the pandemic, and we have helped more than two million people get home to their loved ones since February,” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker.

QR-924, the Doha-Cebu services, flies every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday onboard the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The flight departs from Hamad International Airport at 1:45 am local time and arrives at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 4:45 pm local time.

The Cebu-Doha return flight, QR-925, departs from Cebu at 6:15 pm local time and arrives back in Qatar at 11:00 pm local time. 

The direct air link between Doha and Cebu is atop the existing Qatar Airways routes to Manila, Clark, and Davao. Being a service resumption, the gulf airline previously operated the route up until March 2012 when it ended its A330-200 services to Cebu.

Previously, AUP reported that the airline has further delayed the relaunch to Cebu to December 2, 2020. Initially, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was planned to be utilized for the route, but it now seems to have been upgraded to the 777.

Before COVID-19, Qatar Airways originally planned the service resumption on April 8, 2020. However, the schedules and routing remain unchanged except for the aircraft type.

For flights to the Philippines, the airline presently maintains nine weekly flights to Manila and one weekly flight to Clark. The Doha-Davao service, as of press time, remains suspended due to strict local government restrictions.

Photo from tjdarmstadt, Wikimedia Commons