Doha (Archyde.com)
Qatar Airways said other Gulf airlines will operate more than 180 daily shuttle flights to Qatar during this year’s soccer World Cup, allowing fans to fly from nearby cities before the match and return at the end of the day, thus easing the pressure of staying in Doha.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said at a press conference that Emirates’ flydubai, Oman Air, Kuwait Airways and Saudi Airlines will operate shuttle flights, and that Etihad Airways and Air Arabia in the Emirates may also join.
“Like anywhere else, there has always been a shortage of accommodation, so we are not an isolated case, the biggest challenge for us is that everything happens in one place,” Al Baker said.
Al Baker explained that flydubai will operate up to 60 daily flights from Dubai to transport regarding 2,500 fans, while Oman Air will operate up to 48 daily flights from Muscat to transport regarding 3,400 fans.
Saudi Arabia said that it will operate up to 60 daily flights to transport regarding 10,000 fans from Riyadh and Jeddah, and Kuwait Airways will operate up to 20 flights per day to transport regarding 1,700 fans.
Qatar Airways is adjusting 70 percent of its schedule to make room for upcoming flights, canceling other flights, and reducing the number of flights, in order to provide aircraft to meet the demand from fans.
“It will be a huge challenge to be able to manage this very fast-moving demand for very large numbers of fans,” Al Baker said.
Shuttle trips allow overseas fans to avoid costly and limited accommodation in Qatar by staying elsewhere in the Gulf, and tournament organizers say they will save up to 130,000 rooms, including hotel rooms.
