Qatar Airways announces Seattle flights

Qatar Airways has announced the launch of four weekly flights to Seattle from 15 March 2021, marking the seventh new destination launched by the airline since the start of the pandemic. The Seattle service will be operated by Qatar Airway’s Airbus A350-900 featuring 36 award-winning Qsuite Business Class seats and 247 seats in Economy Class. Qatar has also announced a frequent flyer partnership with Alaska Airlines. From December 15, 2020, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Alaska Mileage Plan members will be able to earn frequent flier miles and from March 31 2021 members will also be able to redeem frequent-flyer miles on both carriers full networks, and elite status perks including lounge access. The two airlines are also working on developing a codeshare agreement and commercial cooperation in line with the U.S. carrier joining oneworld on March 31, 2021. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is committed to enhancing connectivity within the U.S. market, and the launch of flights to Seattle, our second new U.S. destination since the onset of the pandemic, epitomizes this commitment. We are excited to welcome Washington State’s largest city as our seventh new destination announced this year, and our eleventh U.S. gateway, surpassing the number of destinations we operated in the U.S. pre-COVID19. Home to a large tech industry and a portal of innovation, Seattle is a destination that is internationally renowned for business and leisure travel. SEE Moon over stunning Chicago from a 747. “Despite the challenges of 2020, Qatar Airways has remained committed to exploring every opportunity to further enhance the travel experience for our millions of passengers and is proud to secure another important strategic partnership in North America." Brad Tilden, Alaska Air Group Chairman, and CEO said the airline is "thrilled to be joining the oneworld alliance and to begin this new partnership with an outstanding airline like Qatar Airways,” said “As more of us resume international air travel next year, we are excited to offer our guests new nonstop service on Qatar from Seattle to Doha, in addition to Doha service from our hubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. This partnership opens up tremendous destinations around the world and amazing opportunities for our guests.” The launch of flights to Seattle in March 2021 will increase Qatar Airways’ U.S. network to 59 weekly flights to 11 destinations in the U.S., connecting onwards to hundreds of American cities through strategic partnerships with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue. Seattle joins existing U.S. destinations including Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington, D.C. (IAD). Throughout the pandemic, Qatar Airways never stopped flying to the U.S. in order to take more than 220,000 Americans home to their loved ones, with flights to Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth maintained during the entire period. Qatar Airways currently operates more than 700 weekly flights to over 100 destinations across the globe. By the end of March 2021, Qatar Airways plans to rebuild its network to 126 destinations including 20 in Africa, 11 in the Americas, 29 in Asia-Pacific, 38 in Europe, 13 in India, and 15 in the Middle East. Many cities will be served with a strong schedule with daily or more frequencies. Seattle Flight Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday Doha (DOH) to Seattle (SEA) QR719 departs: 08:00 arrives: 11:20 Seattle (SEA) to Doha (DOH) QR720 departs: 15:55 arrives: 17:05+1