British Airways Adds 42 Countries To Qatar Airways Joint Venture

As Simple Flying’s route specialist James Pearson hinted at in his article on Qatar Airways’ record-breaking seven daily Heathrow flights, more developments were definitely on the cards for the Doha-based carrier’s relationship with British Airways. The two airlines announced on Monday that they had completed the latest phase in the expansion of their partnership.

“Huge milestone”

The latest developments are part of BA and Qatar’s plan to “Move Further Together,” and mean that the two carriers now offer global connectivity between more countries than any other airline joint business. They have now added 42 countries to their shared network, ranging as far as Singapore, the Maldives, Italy, Sweden and Norway. The total number of destinations served jointly by the two airlines now counts to 185 across 60 countries.

Sean Doyle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for British Airways said,

“This is a huge milestone in our long-standing relationship with Qatar Airways, an airline that shares our passion for customer service, choice and flexibility. From idyllic holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Thailand, to business hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, we are pleased to open up the world as the travel industry continues to make steps towards its recovery.”

The two companies released a mutual promotion video for the new expansion, in which they stated that the best of both airlines combined would “usher in a new era of air travel.

More options for Avios

More than travel across a large extend of both airlines’ network on a single connecting ticket, travelers will be able to have more freedom in earning and spending the airlines’ common loyalty currency Avios. Passengers can link their Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club accounts to transfer Avios between the two, and combine balances to claim rewards offered by each program. The collaboration also offers access to both airline’s exclusive lounges, as well as cabins including British Airways’ new Club Suite and Qatar Airways’ award-winning Qsuite.

Loyalty customers will have access to BA’s Club Suite cabin. Photo: Justin Hayward / Simple Flying

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, stated,

“The growing collaboration between Qatar Airways and British Airways shows our customers our common goal to offer an unparalleled network with unique benefits. Travellers can now experience the best in quality and service as they travel across our joint network. The joint business between our airlines cements both Qatar Airways and British Airways as industry leaders, aiming to provide the utmost flexibility and unrivalled connectivity to our customers.”

Qatar Airways owns over a quarter of BA’s parent company, International Airline Group (IAG), upping its one-fifth stake to 25.1% in February 2020. During the height of the crisis in July the same year, Qatar contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to help the AIG airlines stay afloat.

What do you think of the joint business between Qatar and British Airways? Will you be making use of the new connectivity possibilities? Leave a comment below and share your ideas.