Flying doesn’t need to be a stressful experience. It’s true that sometimes there’s not enough legroom and everything gets delayed by five hours, but sometimes it’s a full on luxury experience. Enter: Qatar Airways.
Qatar Airways is the nine-time (yes, nine) reigning champions of the aviation Oscars, aka the Skytrax Awards. Flying with the Qatari national carrier is an experience in itself – although it comes at a hefty cost – and the airline has just announced that it’s soon increasing its number of flights from the UK.
Currently, you can fly direct with Qatar to Doha from a few UK airports including Manchester, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, and now the airline will be making the intercontinental journey an extra 17 times per week.
This will include an increase in the weekly takeoffs from Manchester from 21 to 24, and two more flights every day from London Heathrow. Qatar Airways’ total number of flights from London per day will be boosted to 10, which gives travellers loads of options when planning their getaways to the Qatari capital (or if they are planning to use it as a stopover).
These changes came into effect from June 22, and economy tickets begin at £375 one way. If you want to upgrade for the full first class experience, which includes your own cubicle with reclining seat, a ‘culinary journey’ onboard, and an entire private closet to stow away your belongings, you’re looking at anywhere between £4,000 and £6,500 for a single leg of your journey. We did tell you it wouldn’t come cheap.
We’re not the only lucky ones; other European cities like Dublin, Madrid, and Frankfurt are also getting increased Qatar Airways routes to the Middle East. The airline is heading down under too, with flights taking off from Melbourne and Canberra this year too.
You can have a look at the timetables and book your trip on Qatar Airways website here.
Eyes on the skies
Wondering what else is going on in the world of British aviation? This airport was revealed to be the worst for cancellations last year, and this is why British Airways might be scrapping the backseat screens. And that’s not the only news: major British airports have officially scrapped the 100ml liquids rule. In fact, 10 UK airports have changed security rules around liquids in hang luggage –here’s everything you need to know.
More trains have been approved for the East Coast Mainline: all the new services coming to London, Hull, Newcastle and Glasgow.
EasyJet has released flight tickets for summer 2026: here are the 15 best deals.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.