LONDON – On December 20, it was revealed by Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport that Qatar Airways will be increasing its footprint at the airport from the beginning of 2023.

Increasing Scotland Seats

Qatar Airways has served Edinburgh in Scotland for the last nearly nine years, since starting their services from Doha back in May 2014 where the service has primarily been operated by the carrier’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner fleet.

However, in the busier summer months, their Airbus A350-900’s have been seen being utilised on the service.

The current flights are operated by Qatar Airways to Edinburgh from Doha are as follows. All times are local –

• Flight QR31 departs Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) at 00.20 am and arrives into Edinburgh Airport (EDI) at 05.10 am. This flight is operated twice per week on Thursdays and Saturdays.

• Flight QR32 departs Edinburgh Airport (EDI) at 06.40 am and arrives back into Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) at 16.35 pm. This flight is operated twice per week on Thursdays and Saturdays

• Flight QR29 departs Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) at 06.40 am and arrives into Edinburgh Airport (EDI) at 11.30 am. This flight is operated four times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sunday

• Flight QR30 departs Edinburgh Airport (EDI) at 13.00 pm and arrives back into Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) at 22.55 pm. This flight is operated four times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

All of these services means at present Qatar Airways serves Edinburgh Airport six times per week, which using the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner means a total of 1,524 available seats each week and 79,248 seats in a year.

However, this expansion will see Qatar Airways increase their frequency to 10 flights per week from February 2023.

This increase to 10 weekly services will see Qatar Airways operate both a morning and afternoon service to Edinburgh on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

This will mean that the total available weekly seats will increase to 2,540 and a total of 132,080 seats per year. Both services will remain being operated by Qatar Airways’ fleet of 30 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.

Edinburgh Airport’s Aviation Director, Kate Sherry has commented on Qatar Airways increasing their frequency at the airport, saying:

“This increase in frequency is a real show of faith in the Edinburgh market and we’re looking forward to working with Qatar Airways to further enhance and develop this important route to Doha in the future.”

“Offering passengers choice is something that’s really important to us at Edinburgh, and these additional flights will open up Qatar and onward connectivity to even more people in 2023.”

Overall

It is great to see that Qatar Airways is expanding their Scotland services and is yet another significant sign that growth across the aviation industry is certainly coming back to pre-Covid levels.

There is still some way to go for the industry, but these little blocks are making this mountain much easier to climb for many of the worlds carriers as well as a sign of confidence for the airports.