Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways was founded in November 1993 and began operations in January 1994, before being relaunched under new management in 1997 as the national carrier of the State of Qatar. Wholly owned by the Qatari government, it has grown from a small regional operator into one of the largest and most influential international airlines in the Middle East. Its hub is Hamad International Airport in Doha, which replaced the older Doha International Airport in 2014 and has since become a major global transit point linking Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. The airline serves more than 160 destinations worldwide and is known for connecting long-haul traffic through Doha on routes between Europe and Asia in particular. Qatar Airways operates an all wide-body and narrow-body passenger fleet centred on the Airbus A350, Airbus A380, Airbus A320 family, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with a substantial Boeing 777 freighter fleet under its Qatar Airways Cargo division, one of the world's largest international cargo carriers. The airline joined the Oneworld alliance in October 2013, giving passengers reciprocal benefits with carriers such as British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. Its Privilege Club loyalty programme offers Avios-based earning and redemption across Oneworld partners. Qatar Airways is widely recognised for its premium product, particularly the Qsuite business class introduced in 2017, which features sliding doors and configurable double beds, and has repeatedly been ranked among the world's top airlines by Skytrax. On the honest side, the carrier has faced ongoing commercial and diplomatic challenges, including the 2017 to 2021 regional blockade of Qatar, which temporarily forced significant rerouting of its network.